By REBECCA RUTHERFORD
Los Alamos

If you received a dramatic text message this week claiming you owe unpaid traffic fines and must “pay immediately or appear in court”, congratulations.

You are the latest target in a statewide text scam. Not as exciting as winning the lottery, but what are you going to do?

The message looks official at first glance. It says “Notice of Default – Unpaid Traffic Fines.” It lists Bernalillo (Bennalillo ha!) County Metropolitan Court. It includes a real Albuquerque address on Lomas. It even throws in legal language about Title 66 of the New Mexico Code to make it sound impressive.

Then it tells you to pay immediately using a link.

Whoa there, cowboy! Not so fast. 

First red flag: the message is coming from a random phone number, often out of state. In the example circulating locally, the sender number had a 216 area code. That is Ohio. Bernalillo County is not operating a side hustle out of Cleveland.

Second red flag: courts do not notify you of official fines through random mass text messages. Real traffic citations are issued in person, mailed formally, or appear in official court systems you can verify directly. They do not send you a link that looks like a cat walked over a keyboard. In this case, the payment link goes to a suspicious domain that is clearly not an official New Mexico government site. Yikes!

Look closely at that URL. It is not nm.gov. It is not bernco.gov. It is not any recognizable government domain. It is a throwaway web address designed to capture your information.

Third red flag: urgency.

The message pressures you with a specific deadline and threatens license suspension and court enforcement. That emotional spike is intentional. Scammers want you anxious, not analytical.

Here is what is really happening. These messages are phishing attempts designed to steal credit card numbers, personal information, or both. If you click the link and enter payment information, you are handing it directly to criminals. In some cases, these fake sites also collect your name, date of birth, driver’s license number, and address, which can be used for identity theft.

If you receive one of these texts:

• Do not click the link.
• Do not reply.
• Do not call any number in the message.

Instead, if you are genuinely concerned about a traffic citation, go directly to the official New Mexico Courts website by typing the address (https://nmcourts.gov/) yourself into your browser. You can also contact the court directly using the number listed on the official government website. Never use contact information provided in the suspicious message.

You can generally report the text by forwarding it to 7726, which goes to your carrier’s spam reporting system. On an iPhone, you can also tap “Report Junk.” Then delete it.

These scams are broad and automated. They are not targeting you personally. They are blasting thousands of numbers and hoping someone panics and pays before thinking. It’s a long game, but trust me, it pays off.

Slow down. Verify independently. And remember, if a court really needs to reach you, it will not do it with a random text and a weird web address.

Stay sharp, Los Alamos, and don’t click that link!