Columbus drivers are getting hammered with phony text messages that look like official court citations and demand quick payment through a QR code, according to county authorities. The messages come stamped with “Final Notice” and show what looks like municipal court paperwork, clearly tailored to spook people into paying on the spot. Franklin County officials are telling residents to treat these as phishing texts and to avoid scanning any codes or sharing personal or payment information.
County agencies issue blunt warnings
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office says it has fielded multiple complaints from residents about the bogus traffic texts and has posted a social-media warning telling people not to click links or scan QR codes, according to the Franklin County Sheriff's Office. In a press release, the Franklin County Municipal Court stressed that it does not send text messages about fines and that initial court appearances are sent by mail, not text, per the Franklin County Municipal Court. Judy Dollison, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Central Ohio, told 10TV that "government organizations will not text and threaten payment or sensitive information requests" and urged people to report shady messages instead of engaging with them.
How the scam works
According to Tom's Guide, scammers are blasting out images of fake "Notice of Default" or "Final Notice" documents that mimic court paperwork and tuck a QR code into the fine print, sending victims to a phishing site. Security researchers say the QR code lets attackers hide the real link and often routes people through CAPTCHAs before asking for a small payment, typically about $6.99, to quietly harvest credit-card or identity data, per TechRepublic. Similar QR-code ticket scams have cropped up around the country, and in some cities dozens of people even turned up at courthouses for hearings that did not exist, according to Axios.
What to do if you get one
Do not reply, click any links, or scan the QR code. The Federal Trade Commission says to treat these texts as scams and to confirm any supposed citation directly with the court using contact details you look up yourself, not anything listed in the message. If you already paid or shared personal or financial information, contact your bank or card issuer right away and follow recovery steps outlined by the FTC, and consider filing a complaint with the Ohio Attorney General's office, which warns against scanning QR codes on unexpected legal notices. You should also report the message to the Franklin County Sheriff's Office so local investigators can track patterns and alert the community, according to guidance from the FTC.
Wider trend and local fallout
Security outlets and courts around the United States have raised alarms about this QR-code twist on traffic-ticket phishing as scammers move away from obvious links to make malicious pages harder to spot, according to TechRepublic. In central Ohio, Spectrum News and 10TV report that Franklin County agencies rolled out public alerts after several residents in the region received the fake violation notices.
Reporting and recovery resources
To report a suspicious text, call the Franklin County Sheriff's Office at (614) 525-3351 or use the online scams resources on the Franklin County Sheriff's Office site. You can also file a scam report with the FTC. Ohioans may submit a consumer complaint to the Ohio Attorney General, and the Better Business Bureau's Scam Tracker, available through the Better Business Bureau, can help map local scam reports.
