GoKawiilScammers are sending fake "Notice of Default" traffic violation text messages impersonating state courts across the U.S., pressuring recipients to scan a QR code that leads to a phishing site demanding a $6.99 payment while stealing personal and financial information.
This is a new variation of the widely sent toll violation and unpaid parking ticket scams that users received in 2025, which claimed to be from state toll agencies.
This new campaign started a few weeks ago, with someone sharing a text targeting New York residents with BleepingComputer, and many other people reporting similar texts online for other states, including California, North Carolina, Illinois, Virginia, Texas, Connecticut, and New Jersey.
Unlike the previous campaign, which included a text message and links to phishing sites, this new variation instead includes an image of an alleged court notice with an embedded QR code.
"This notice constitutes a final and urgent warning regarding an outstanding traffic violation involving your registered vehicle within the State of New York," reads the fake court notice.
"This matter has now entered the formal enforcement stage."
Fake court notice about traffic violations
Source: BleepingComputer
The text message shared with BleepingComputer claims to be from the "Criminal Court of the City of New York", stating that there is an unpaid parking or toll violation that must be paid immediately or the person must appear in court. Included are instructions to scan a QR code to settle the unpaid balances.
Scanning the QR code brings the targeted person to an intermediary site that first prompts you to solve a captcha to prove you are human. The QR codes and CAPTCHA are used to make it harder for automated security software and researchers to analyze the phishing campaign.
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