Watch Out For Unpaid Traffic Ticket Scam Texts, Monmouth County Officials Say

MONMOUTH COUNTY, NJ — Monmouth County officials are warning residents of scam text messages claiming to be from the NJ Department of Motor Vehicles.

In the message, text recipients are told they have an outstanding traffic ticket and must pay it by a certain date to avoid facing penalties, such as having their vehicle registration or driving privileges suspended.

Toward the bottom of the message, the text includes a link where recipients can “pay” the outstanding fine and instructs the recipient to “pay immediately.”

According to the NJ Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell, these texts are an attempt to gain access to your personal information.

Text recipients should avoid clicking links and avoid entering login information outside of official sources, authorities said.

The NJ Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Cell is also offering the following safety tips:

• Avoid clicking links, responding to, or acting on unsolicited text messages.
• Confirm requests from senders via contact information obtained from verified and official sources.
• Check your toll agency’s account by manually typing the official website URL into the browser or contacting the toll agency’s customer service phone number.
• Report SMiShing to the FTC, FBI's IC3, and NJCCIC, and forward the message to 7726 (SPAM).

To see an example of the scam text, you can click here.

To learn more about ways to protect yourself from scams, you can contact the Monmouth County Division of Consumer Affairs at 732-431-7900.