Holidays apparently don’t mean anything to certain scammers.
Residents began complaining to area law enforcement about alleged “final notices – court enforcement action” texts allegedly saying residents have court appearances at 9 am Monday in Olathe to handle different traffic violations like speeding or parking issues — as well as failure to pay electronic tolls.
Unlike past scam attempts where potential victims got a faulty website link, residents got an official-looking graphic that indicated the alleged violations, the actions required — pay up or appear in court — and the results of essentially ignoring the graphic. A QR code is also included to make payments easier.
With the alleged hearings in Johnson County District Court, the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office says it reached out to its counterpart in Johnson County and confirmed the notices are part of a scam.
Besides law enforcement reminding residents it won’t text to collect unpaid fines or offer information about court dates, the Kansas Department of Transportation, Kansas Turnpike Authority and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach have all said this is a scam and state agencies would never use these methods to collect payments. KDOT also does not collect tolls from the KTA under any circumstances.
