{"id":219650,"date":"2026-03-25T12:02:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T12:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/219650\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T12:02:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T12:02:23","slug":"bogus-dallas-court-notices-show-how-text-message-scams-are-going-global","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/219650\/","title":{"rendered":"Bogus Dallas court notices show how text message scams are going global"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ve heard the expression \u201cthe shot heard around the world.\u201d This is a story about a scam<\/a> heard around the world.<\/p>\n

The victims are the Dallas Municipal Court, and also hundreds of people within the city \u2014 and even farther outside its borders\u2014 who are being tricked into paying false vehicle fines that never existed.<\/p>\n

The scam<\/a> is only a few days old. Fortunately, the Dallas Police Department quickly put out an alert. Police are asking victims to come forward and help them in an ongoing criminal investigation.<\/p>\n

When I tried to call the municipal court, its main phone line was knocked out due to heavy incoming scam-related<\/a> calls.<\/p>\n

Watchdog Alert<\/p>\n

Are you a taxpayer in Texas? The Watchdog has your back.<\/p>\n

By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

First, The Watchdog<\/a> will show you how the scheme works. Then I\u2019ll show you several small clues in the one-sheet that show it to be a fraud. This is part of my ongoing exploration of how to determine fact from fiction.<\/p>\n

The scam<\/p>\n

\u2018NOTICE OF HEARING \u2013 TRAFFIC VIOLATION.\u2019<\/p>\n

The warning at top is either for nonpayment of a toll road fee, or a parking violation.<\/p>\n

Your choices? Ask for a postponement of the hearing or end it by paying all money owed.<\/p>\n

Failure to appear, it warns, could lead to greater fines and penalties.<\/p>\n

The clues<\/p>\n

The fake citation which arrives by text or by email (no money spent on delivery) looks very professional. That alone is enough for recipients to buy into this.<\/p>\n

But spend a minute or two, and you\u2019ll see a few items that keep this piece from getting an A+ at the scammers writing club.<\/p>\n

The name \u201cJohn Smith\u201d is listed at both the top and the bottom. At the top he is named as the judge; at the bottom, he\u2019s named as the \u201cClerk of the Courts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unless you\u2019re legendary Judge Roy Bean – Law West of the Pecos – nobody would be both clerk and judge.<\/p>\n

Other versions of the citations list \u201cMichael Rodriguez\u201d as the judge.<\/p>\n

No John Smith or Michael Rodiguez work at the real municipal courts.<\/p>\n

Jasmine Bell, a customer service agent for the real courts, told me about another clue. But this one is so subtle nobody except a lawyer might know.<\/p>\n

The case number shown starts with \u201cTX.\u201d But in reality, the case numbers start with other letters. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m not going to reveal letters. Why make it easier? Just know TX is incorrect.<\/p>\n

Dallas police<\/p>\n

Police warn not to click on the QR code or any links on the one pager.<\/p>\n

In a posted statement, DPD warns, \u201cNever provide payment or personal information unless you have verified the source. If you already made a payment, contact your bank or credit card immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city of Dallas and Municipal Courts does not request payments via unsolicited text messages or QR codes. \u2026 If you receive one of these messages do not respond. Do not send money. Delete the message.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is today\u2019s version of that shot heard around the world. But it doesn\u2019t echo across a battlefield. It pings across phones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You\u2019ve heard the expression \u201cthe shot heard around the world.\u201d This is a story about a scam heard…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":219651,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2353,815,294,102,104,103,10322],"class_list":["post-219650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-commentary","tag-courts","tag-crime","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-watchdog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}