DALLAS — The Dallas Police Department is warning the public about an ongoing scam involving text messages misleading recipients into providing payments to the Dallas Municipal Court.
In a social media post released Friday, Dallas police detail the scam, which involves instructions leading recipients to send money to the court through a QR code. According to police, recipients have ended up going to municipal courts after receiving these messages if they haven’t actually made the payments through the code.
The police state explicitly that both the city of Dallas and municipal courts do not request payments via unsolicited text messages or QR codes and they advise recipients to not click on links or scan QR codes from unknown or suspicious messages. Do not provide any payments or personal information unless you can verify the source. If you receive one of the messages they highlight, Dallas police say to not respond or send money and just delete the message.
For those who have already sent money, they should contact their bank or credit card company immediately and report the incident to the Dallas Police Department, the post says.
DPD adds that it is actively investigating the scam and working with partners to prevent further victimization.