Another round of text and call-based scams claiming unpaid tolls and tickets appears to be circulating in North Carolina.
The Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page posted a warning about the scams on June 3, stating that the office was receiving calls and messages regarding the scam. According to the post, scammers are contacting N.C. residents claiming they have outstanding tickets with the state’s Division of Motor Vehicles.
The department reminded the public that the DMV doesn’t demand payments over the phone, and that no legitimate agency requests payment via gift cards, wire transfers or Bitcoin.
In the past, smishing scams claiming to be associated with the NC Turnpike Authority and NC Quick Pass have included fake numbers, fraudulent websites, “owed” amounts and more. Some of these scams request information on social security numbers, as well as credit card numbers and other vital private information.
Here’s what to know about the scams circulating in NC, the state’s toll payment program and more.
Google searches for queries like “NCDMV text scam” rose sharply in N.C. on June 3. An image attached to the Brunswick sheriff post showed one of the fraudulent texts related to these searches.
The Citizen Times previously reported on a similar scam, claiming a “notice of toll evasion” must be paid by the recipient within 12 hours to avoid “late fees” or being “reported to the DMV.”
According to an alert posted on the NCDMV website, the agency NCDMV will never request payment by text. The alert advises recipients report any text received as spam and delete it.
The NC Turnpike Authority, NC Quick Pass – the state’s toll payment program – will also never request payment through a text message. If you receive a text claiming you have an outstanding toll payment due to NC Quick Pass, it is a scam.
While you may receive a text from NC Quick Pass, the organization’s only number used to send texts is 696277. Again, they will never request payment through a text message.
You can look up N.C. traffic citations at www3.nccourts.org/onlineservices/menu.sp.
You can pay an NC Quick Pass toll at secure.ncquickpass.com/#/Pay
The FBI defines smishing as “a social engineering attack using fake text messages to trick people into downloading malware, sharing sensitive information, or sending money to cybercriminals.”
The agency also explained that the odd name combines “SMS” – an abbreviation for “short messaging service” – with “phishing,” the name for general scam attacks that use the internet, email or websites.
Iris Seaton is the trending news reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at [email protected].

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