Philadelphia courts issue scam alert over fake PA Turnpike toll texts

Philadelphia courts issued a fraud alert Saturday about fictitious text messages that appear to come from the city's traffic division.  

Officials said the text messages read "Notice of Hearing – TOLL VIOLATION" and include a QR code asking recipients to make a payment. The texts also instruct recipients to appear for a hearing or resolve the matter by using the QR code for "payment of the assessed civil penalty … prior to the hearing date."

Court officials urge people to ignore the messages and note that the court system will never send text messages requesting payment for tolls, parking tickets or other violations.

Officials also warned residents not to provide personal, banking or credit card information through links sent from unknown numbers.

If you have received one of these text messages or are a victim of this scam, please call police or contact the PA Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection at 800-441-2555, or contact the Federal Trade Commission.