Judiciary warns of text scams about unpaid traffic citations
The state Judiciary is warning the public statewide of a text scam alleging to be from the Hawaii District Court or the Department of Motor Vehicles.
The texts falsely allege that unless payment is made for unpaid traffic citations, the text recipients will be stripped of their driving privileges and their vehicle registration will be suspended.
The Judiciary says state courts and the DMV do not send texts, calls or emails regarding unpaid traffic citations unless the driver contacts them first, either in person, in writing or by phone with a specific question.
Generally, the Judiciary handles unpaid citations through the U.S. mail.
Drivers can check on eCourtKokua, the Judiciary’s public online case look-up system to see if they have an unpaid traffic citation, or any traffic infractions and crimes. Parking citations can be found by doing a license plate number search.
Similar to other scams, scammers impersonate court staff, DMV or law enforcement personnel to threaten people with fines, license suspension or arrest for failing to pay for citations or appear for jury duty.
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The perpetrators often spoof actual courthouse or law enforcement phone numbers, the Judiciary warns.
The courts will never ask for a person’s Social Security number, credit or debit card details.
They will never demand payment using prepaid debit cards, gift cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency or online payment apps.
They will not instruct a person to meet at a courthouse, police station or other location to make a payment.
Protect yourself from scams:
>> By deleting suspicious texts or emails that appear to come from the Judiciary.
>> Do not click on links open attachments or reply.
>> Do not trust caller ID, since scammers can spoof real numbers to make them look official.
>> If you are unsure whether a call or message is legitimate, look up the phone numbers on the Judiciary’s website.
>> If you believe you have been threatened by a scammer or are in danger, call 911.
If you have given personal information or sent money to a scammer, call local police, the Federal Trade Commission or the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
