State Rep. Jack Jordan warns Hoosiers of rising court and toll road phishing scams

State Representative Jack Jordan (R-Bremen) is urging Hoosiers to stay vigilant following a recent spike in sophisticated phishing scams targeting residents with fake court notices and toll road violations.

According to Jordan, scammers are sending text messages and emails that appear to be from official court systems. The messages often demand immediate payment for alleged toll road violations or threaten recipients with a mandatory hearing. While the communications may look authentic and use official-sounding language, they are fraudulent attempts to steal personal and financial information.

Phishing is a type of cyberattack where fraudsters impersonate legitimate organizations to trick victims into clicking malicious links, opening infected attachments, or handing over sensitive data and payments.

To help residents protect themselves, Jordan highlighted several telltale signs of a scam to watch out for:

• Urgent or threatening language: Scammers often try to create a false sense of urgency to force immediate action.
• Mismatched domains: Website and email addresses that do not exactly match the official domain of the supposed sender. Scammers frequently use names changed by only one or two letters.
• Requests for sensitive data: Unusual requests for passwords, Social Security numbers, or bank details. Legitimate organizations will not ask for this information via text message.
• Poor formatting: Generic greetings, poor grammar, and inaccurate or sloppy renderings of official logos, such as the state seal.

“I encourage you to take these steps to recognize and report phishing scams and share them with friends, family, and neighbors,” Jordan said.

Residents who receive suspicious emails are encouraged to forward them to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at spam@uce.gov or report them online at reportfraud.ftc.gov.

Anyone who has already provided personal information or money through a fraudulent link should immediately file a consumer complaint with the state online at indianaconsumer.com or by calling 317-232-6330.