WYDOT Warns Albany County Residents of Fake Traffic Fine Text Scam

The Wyoming Department of Transportation issued a warning to Albany County residents about a texting phishing scam, known as smishing, that tries to trick recipients into paying fake traffic fines and handing over personal or financial information. WYDOT posted the alert to its Facebook page, and local outlet County 5 also carried the warning.

The scam belongs to a category that KGAB AM 650 described as "increasingly common," relying on a sense of urgency and a threatening tone to pressure targets into acting before they think. Scammers typically invoke the names of real organizations and threaten immediate consequences, making the messages look credible at first glance.

What gives this particular scheme away is the geography. The fraudulent texts reference E-Z Pass fines, but E-Z Pass does not operate in Wyoming. More fundamentally, Wyoming has no toll roads at all, though Interstate 80 has come up in past discussions as a potential tolling candidate. Even neighboring Colorado, which does have toll roads, falls outside the E-Z Pass network. According to KGAB, Minnesota is the closest U.S. state where E-Z Pass actually operates.

The scammers appear to be betting that Wyoming residents might assume they racked up a toll violation while traveling through another state. The messages do not claim to originate from a "Wyoming Department of Motor Vehicles," which is notable mainly because no such agency exists.

This is not the first time Wyoming residents have been targeted this way. KGAB reported that the current scam closely resembles one that circulated widely across the state a few months ago.

Anyone who receives an unexpected text demanding payment for a traffic fine should treat it with immediate suspicion, particularly if the message references E-Z Pass or toll violations. Do not click any links or provide payment information. Reporting suspicious texts to WYDOT through its official Facebook page or to local law enforcement gives authorities a clearer picture of how widely the scam is spreading.