Fake court text scam floods Kansas City metro phones

JOHNSON COUNTY, Kan. (KCTV) - Scammers are flooding phones across the Kansas City metro with fake court notices threatening legal consequences over traffic tickets that don’t exist.

Authorities on both sides of the state line are warning residents not to fall for it.

The fake court notice demands immediate action, lists a fake court date and threatens to suspend the recipient’s license if they don’t show up.

The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office says people should not scan the QR code and not pay anything. The texts are not from them.

“We’ll never, ever send out a court notice via text message,” said Craig Walion, captain of investigations division of Johnson County Sheriff’s Office. “The district attorney’s office does not send information out that way.”

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office posted a warning on Facebook saying people should not respond.

The 16th Judicial Circuit of Missouri issued a press release Monday saying the message is a scam and should be ignored. The message says the recipient must make a payment for outstanding traffic violations and must appear for a hearing at the Jackson County Courthouse. The 16th Judicial Circuit of Missouri does not issue court notices in this way, and no hearing is being held. The press release advises people not to scan the code, make any payments or respond in any way to the message.

People with questions about the authenticity of any message that appears to be from the 16th Judicial Circuit or the Jackson County Circuit Court can contact the court at (816) 881-3658.

Justin Sterrett, who lives in Jackson County, received one of the texts over the weekend and deleted it right away.

“They are constantly sending out stuff,” Sterrett said. “Saying I had to, I had to pay or going to court or whatever you got to do.”

Christopher Copley, who lives in Johnson County, said he gets suspicious texts often but hasn’t seen this one yet. He said he’s worried that messages like this weaponize urgency to trigger an emotional reaction.

“The scariest thing they could put on there, you are going to foreclose on your home, you are going to lose your vehicle, you are going to have payroll deductions. Anything they can think of to get you to have an emotional response,” Copley said.

Walion has investigated schemes like this for years. He laid out the red flags that give them away.

“We are never going to ask for a cash app. We are never going to ask for some type of gift card or send you a link to something,” Walion said. “What you’re going to see of a lot of these things, they’re going to have poor grammar in the text messages. They’re going to have a suspicious link. Never click on those.”

The sheriff’s office said it is okay to come in and ask if you are still concerned about a potential unpaid ticket. You can contact the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office at 913-782-0720.