The Johnson City Police Department has warned locals about a new text scam posing as the Tennessee Department of Vehicles. The scam has been reported to involve messages about "final notice" for unpaid traffic tickets, instructing the victims to pay up quickly to avoid additional penalties. These messages should not be entertained.
In the advisory, Chief Billy Church emphasized the fraudulent nature of these texts by stating, "If you get this text, do not reply, do not click any links, and delete the message." He reminded the public, per the City of Johnson, that both the JCPD and the Tennessee Department of Motor Vehicles would never resort to using text messages to contact individuals regarding such matters.
Scammers have become increasingly sophisticated, but certain giveaways can alert one to deceptive schemes. For instance, the text messages in question were sent from international numbers and mentioned a non-existent "North Tennessee State Administrative Code."
