| INDIANAPOLIS- Recently, there’s been an increase in phishing texts and email scams claiming to be sent by a court saying that recipients must immediately pay fines for toll road violations or appear for a hearing. These messages may look authentic and use official-sounding language, but they are scams meant to steal financial and personal information. Phishing is a type of cyberattack where scammers impersonate legitimate organizations to trick victims into clicking malicious links, opening infected attachments, providing credentials or outright making financial payments. |
Hoosiers should be on the lookout for telltale signs of scams, such as:
• Urgent or threatening language;
• Website and email addresses that do not match the official domain of the supposed sender — although scammers do often use names changed only slightly from the real ones;
• Unusual requests for sensitive personal information, such as passwords, Social Security numbers or bank details, which legitimate organizations do not ask for via text;
• Generic greetings and poor grammar; and
• Inaccurate or sloppy renderings of such features as the state seal.
You can forward spam emails to the Federal Trade Commission at spam@uce.gov or report them at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
If you have already provided personal information or money through a link in these email or text messages, file a consumer complaint immediately online at indianaconsumer.com or call 317-232-6330.
