Calls to the Des Moines City Clerk’s Office on June 3 alerted officials to a new phishing scheme involving suspicious text messages.
The messages were sent as reminders regarding unpaid parking tickets, according to a news release from the city. The messages, however, were fake and were intended to trick recipients into sharing their payment information with cybercriminals.
The city of Des Moines does not send text messages regarding unpaid tickets or other outstanding fines, the news release said. If residents have questions regarding the verification or status of a ticket, they are encouraged to call the City Clerk’s Office at 515-283-4125 or reach out via email at cityclerk@dmgov.org.
In addition to the phony ticket texts, some city officials also received texts appearing to be from the Iowa Department of Transportation. In its own news release, the DOT said the texts notify recipients of unpaid toll or registration fees. The Iowa DOT does not send out fee collection reminders via text, according to the news release.
To protect from scammers, the city of Des Moines reminds residents not to respond to messages from unknown senders. The city also warned not to click on suspicious links, and to not share personal information including credit card information via text message.
It said that official correspondence will always be marked as such. All mail from the city of Des Moines will be sent through a verified address with a return address clearly marked. Likewise, all city email correspondence will end in dmgov.org.
The Iowa Department of Transportation also encourages people to use their phone’s “report junk” option to report unwanted texts or forward them to 7726 (SPAM), then delete the text.
Norah Judson is a reporter for the Register. Reach her at njudson@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines warns text messages about unpaid parking tickets are fake
Reporting by Norah Judson, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
