Text messages claiming to be from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation are popping up on people’s cell phones statewide, telling them to immediately pay fines for traffic violations or face severe penalties.
PennDOT is not sending these texts.
“The messages threaten that customers need to pay a fine to avoid having their licenses or registrations suspended, or the outstanding fine will be sent to debt collections,” PennDOT spokeswoman Leanne Trindel said in an email. “These text messages are not from PennDOT — they are a scam.” 
PennDOT officials have been dealing periodically with the fake texts, Trindel said. So have transportation departments in other states.
The scammers’ approach is to convince the person that they must pay a fine by clicking on a link that supposedly goes to PennDOT. In reality, the link connects them to the scammers, or puts malware on their phone or computer.
“PennDOT urges individuals who receive a suspicious text message to avoid clicking on any links in the message and to delete the message,” Trindel said. “Those who receive a fraudulent text can report it to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and/or the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.”
The Better Business Bureau says a text is likely a scam if it:
If you actually owe PennDOT money for unpaid traffic violations, or driver’s license or registration fees, the department will notify you by mail, Trindel said.
Contact David Bruce at [email protected] or by calling 814-870-1736.

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