Logan County residents warned about fake Colorado traffic scam notices

A scam text circulating in Colorado is posing as an official court notice, using a fake State of Colorado document that resembles a Denver County Traffic Division enforcement order. The image has been described as a final enforcement notice or court-ordered compliance requirement, and some versions claim unpaid toll, speeding or parking violations. The warning for Logan County is simple: do not scan the QR code, do not open any attached payment portal, and do not send personal or financial information.

The messages are arriving by text and are built to trigger panic. State and federal authorities say the notices can include a fake case number, a seal, a hearing date and an urgent demand to pay a fine immediately. Some versions threaten arrest or additional penalties if the recipient does not respond. Colorado State Patrol warned on April 30 that the scam was spreading through texts with a picture of what appears to be a State of Colorado court document, while media reports said at least 200 people reported receiving the texts that same day.

Denver County Court, the Colorado Judicial Branch and the Denver Police Department issued a separate warning on March 2 about a related toll-and-summons scheme. That version tells people they must appear in court, then pushes them to scan a QR code to pay a fine. The Federal Trade Commission said on April 14 that it had seen a spike in reports over the prior month about similar traffic-violation QR-code scams, and that the messages are designed to make people act fast before they check the details.

For Logan County households, the safest response is to slow down and verify the claim through an independently found court website or phone number, not the contact information embedded in the text. Colorado State Patrol specifically told people not to scan the QR code or provide personal information. Denver County Court advised recipients to report the scam to StopFraudColorado.gov or the Denver District Attorney’s fraud hotline at 720-913-9179.

The warning carries extra weight in Sterling and across rural Logan County, where official-looking paperwork can travel quickly through texts, email chains and social media before anyone has time to confirm it. Stop Fraud Colorado says these impostor schemes often lean on fear of legal or financial trouble, and the Attorney General’s Office recorded more than 800 imposter scams in 2023. Officials say scammers keep using that pressure because it works, especially when a notice looks formal enough to seem real at first glance.