The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDOSHS) is warning of a new text messaging scam circulating throughout the state, claiming to be from the Tennessee Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
The state agency warns that recipients of the scam messages have reported receiving messages warning of outstanding traffic ticket fines and threatening to suspend the recipients’ vehicle registration and driving privileges if payment is not made.
In addition, some messages have reportedly included a link directing recipients to a fake website designed to look like the official TDOSHS site.
New scam text messages tell recipients they must pay outstanding traffic tickets and threaten their driving privileges.🚨🚨
Learn more about this scam: https://t.co/8nCY8qZkl6
Are you a victim? Report it here: https://t.co/tMyDlAYnKi pic.twitter.com/awi9A2uZhG
— Tennessee Highway Patrol (@TNHighwayPatrol) June 5, 2025
“These messages are not from the TDOSHS or the THP. They are fake messages trying to scam Tennesseans…TDOSHS does not send text messages about overdue traffic fines, fees, payments, or license suspensions,” the agency said.
Individuals who receive scam texts are encouraged to delete and report the messages as spam through their phone service, and to also report the scam to the Federal Trade Commission and the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Similar scam text messages portraying other state DMVs have been reported across the nation in recent weeks.
The scam text messages claiming unpaid traffic ticket fines have been reported by recipients across the country, along with fake phishing text messages claiming unpaid toll road and EZ Pass balances.
Those text messages reportedly provide consumers with false information claiming outstanding balances on toll road or EZ Pass accounts, include links to fake websites seeking personal and financial information, and claim to be a “final notice” of the reported unpaid toll balances and list penalties if such balances are not paid by a specific date.
Last month, the Tennessee Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division issued an official warning about fake text messages claiming unpaid toll road and EZ-Pass balances, urging recipients to report and delete them as a way to protect their private financial information.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
