Wheat Ridge police are sounding the alarm about a slick new text scam that poses as a Denver County Court summons, complete with official-sounding details and a countdown-style sense of urgency. The department said Monday that residents should not click any links, scan the QR code or send money in response to these messages. The texts use formal headers, a case number, a judge's name and a hearing time in an effort to make recipients panic and pay up. Authorities say the scheme is part of a larger wave of toll and summons phishing attempts that have been bouncing around metro Denver since early March. Anyone who gets a message like this is urged to verify directly with the court or the district attorney's office before doing anything else.
In a Facebook post, the Wheat Ridge Police Department shared a screenshot of the bogus summons and warned, "If you have received this text, please know it is a SCAM!" The image shows a case number (co-26-tr-273196), a March 23 hearing time, a listed judge, and a QR code that supposedly lets you "settle" the balance. The post stresses that courts do not demand immediate payment by text and advises people to look up the court's official phone number and call during normal business hours to verify any notice, according to the Wheat Ridge Police Department.
How the scam works
Scammers dress the text up to look like an official court summons, then pressure people to "act now" by scanning a QR code to pay a supposed toll or fine. Local officials first flagged this tactic in early March. The messages threaten default judgments, license suspensions, collection actions, and other penalties designed to scare people into paying. When victims scan the QR code, they are sent to phishing pages that collect payment details and personal information instead of resolving any legitimate debt, as reported by Denver7.
What officials say
"This is not how the court contacts people," Denver County Court spokeswoman Carolyn Tyler told Denver7. She said the texts are carefully crafted to look official and make people panic. The court and Denver Police are taking complaints and advise anyone unsure about a summons to call the Denver District Attorney's fraud hotline or contact the court clerk directly to confirm the notice.
How to protect yourself
Do not click links in these texts, reply to the message or scan the QR code. Instead, take a screenshot, forward the text to 7726 (SPAM) so your carrier can investigate, and file a report with the Federal Trade Commission and the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center if you were targeted or lost money. To confirm a real court notice, call the Denver County Court clerk during business hours using the phone number listed on the court's official website, or reach the Denver DA's fraud hotline at 720-913-9179, according to Denver County Court and federal guidance from the FBI IC3 and the FTC.
If you have already sent money or shared personal details, contact your bank or card issuer immediately and file complaints with the FBI's IC3 and the Colorado Attorney General's StopFraud portal so investigators can watch for patterns and try to help. Hang on to receipts, screenshots, and any QR codes, and include those when you report the scam to IC3 and StopFraudColorado.
