Nevadans are getting peppered with fake ticket texts that look official, sound urgent, and try to push them into paying up on the spot. On Thursday, Nevada State Police warned that a surge of bogus messages is hitting phones across the state, telling people they owe fines and must scan a QR code or click a link to “resolve” a violation, sometimes with threats of legal trouble if they do not comply. Troopers say it is all a scam and are blunt about what to do with those texts: ignore and delete.
What Nevada State Police Are Seeing
According to Nevada State Police, the scam messages claim to come from the State of Nevada’s Department of Safety & Homeland Security and insist that the recipient owes money or must scan a QR code to clear up a supposed violation. The agency is urging people to trash the texts immediately and not scan any QR codes, tap on links, or hand over personal or financial information, per Nevada State Police.
How To Report These Phony Texts
State officials are asking anyone who gets one of these messages to report it to Nevada’s tip line at [email protected] or by calling 844-733-7248. Those contacts, along with the statewide fusion-center intake system for suspicious activity, are listed on the Nevada Department of Public Safety’s reporting page, according to the Nevada Department of Public Safety.
Why QR Codes Are A Growing Scam Tool
Criminals are leaning into “quishing” - QR-code phishing - as a way to funnel victims onto fake payment sites or trigger downloads that quietly steal data, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service says. One quick scan of a malicious code can send you to a spoofed website that harvests login credentials or payment information, or it can prompt an unauthorized app installation that gives scammers a foothold on your device.
How To Protect Yourself
Skip scanning QR codes or tapping links that arrive in unsolicited texts, especially if they claim to be tickets, court notices, or government alerts. Instead, confirm any supposed violation or request by going to an official website you find on your own or by calling a verified phone number. You can forward the scam texts to 7726 (SPAM) so your wireless carrier can investigate and try to block the sender, and you can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, per guidance from federal consumer-protection authorities. If you already scanned a code or entered payment information, contact your bank or card company right away, update passwords on affected accounts, and run a security scan on your phone or other device.
Officials say these QR-code and text scams are part of a wider national wave of smishing and quishing schemes that impersonate courts, law-enforcement agencies, and state offices. Nevada State Police say investigators will be reviewing incoming reports and are asking residents to stay skeptical of any sudden “violation” that shows up by text. For more tips or to submit suspicious messages, they point people to the Nevada Department of Public Safety’s reporting page.
