Florence County, South Carolina – A text message dressed up to look official is landing on phones in Florence County, and residents are being warned not to be fooled by its polished appearance.
Local residents have reported receiving what claims to be a “FINAL COURT-ORDERED MANDATORY COLLECTION NOTICE,” a message that tries to create panic by telling recipients they are delinquent and in default on an electronic toll or toll road evasion charge.
It then pressures them to act immediately by scanning a QR code to pay supposed outstanding tolls, civil penalties, and court costs.
But authorities say the message is a scam, plain and simple, and it is not just appearing locally.
Variations of the same scheme have been showing up across the country, using fear and urgency to push people into making quick decisions before they have time to question what they are seeing.
Part of what makes the scam convincing is the way it borrows the look and language of the legal system. The notice reportedly references “Judge Michael Rodriguez” and presents itself as if it is tied to a failure to pay.
That name, however, does not belong to any judge in South Carolina.
The message also appears to come from the Richland County Traffic Division, another red flag. Richland County does not have toll roads, which immediately undercuts the claim being made in the text.
That detail matters. Scams like this often succeed because they sound official enough to unsettle people, even when the facts do not hold up under a closer look.
A formal tone. Legal wording. A threat of penalties. A demand for fast payment. It is a familiar playbook, and it is designed to make recipients react first and think later.
Officials are stressing that clerk’s offices and courts generally do not send text messages demanding payment or notifying people of court dates in this way. That alone should prompt suspicion. And the QR code included in the message is not just a payment trap. It may also open the door to something worse. Scammers may be able to use those codes to install malware on a device or steal personal information from the person who scans them.
The advice being shared is direct: do not click on the QR code, do not follow any links, and do not respond. Instead, ignore the message, delete it, send it to spam, and block the incoming number. Those simple steps can prevent a moment of panic from turning into a much larger problem.
The warning also extends beyond this specific text.
With any unsolicited text message or email, people should avoid clicking links or scanning QR codes and should never hand over personal details such as a driver’s license number, date of birth, or Social Security number.
Card numbers and account information should also never be shared through text messages or through links that have not been verified. For people whose phones do not already offer strong spam protections, contacting their phone provider about call- and text-blocking tools may provide another layer of defense.
Read also: Two Florence searches in one day led to four arrests in major county drug crackdown
The broader message is as old as fraud itself, even if the methods keep changing. A scam no longer has to come through a suspicious phone call or a clumsy email.
Now it can arrive looking sharp, official, and urgent right in the middle of an ordinary day. That is exactly why residents are being urged to slow down, question what they receive, and trust their instincts.
If something seems off, it probably is. And in this case, officials want the public to know exactly that: don’t fall for it.
