The Missouri Department of Transportation is warning residents about a new text message scam targeting Missourians.
The texts, which claim to be from MoDOT, say recipients owe unpaid traffic fines. The messages are an attempt to steal personal and financial information.
Here’s what you need to know.
The scam text message alleges the recipient has an outstanding traffic ticket and threatens them with a slew of consequences — including prosecution — if payment isn’t received soon. The text then instructs the recipient to reply “Y” to the message and then click a link to submit payment.
MoDOT warns residents to not click the links in these messages and to instead delete and report them, adding it “will never solicit [residents] to pay a toll or traffic violation fee.”
The phone numbers these messages are coming from include a “+63” at the beginning, which is the country code for the Philippines and not the U.S.
This practice is known as “smishing,” a combination of “SMS” and “phishing.” Like phishing, smishing works by tricking people into sharing sensitive information and/or sending money to cybercriminals via a bogus text message claiming to be from a reputable entity. The scam message will often include a phony web link that will take recipients to a fake copycat website when clicked.
The latest smishing campaign isn’t just affecting Missourians, but users nationwide. An FBI supervisory special agent in Tennessee confirmed to WREG News Channel 3 the agency is investigating this latest scam, adding that criminal groups overseas are using algorithms and AI to send out these mass messages.
Here are some tips from the Federal Communications Commission on how to avoid being a victim of a smishing attempt.

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