The messages say you owe parking fines, or toll fines, and ask you to pay through a link or a QR code.
If you got a suspicious traffic violation notice via text, do not click on the QR code. Cook County officials warn it's a scam.
On Friday, dozens of people showed up to pay a traffic violation fines that turned out to be fake. The Traffic Division of Cook County Courts at the Daley Center assigned someone to warn folks showing up with the texted notices that they are scams.
"It's disappointing," said Mariyana Spyropoulos, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County.
Spyropoulos says this is the third warning her office has issued about these scams.
"These texts that are coming through are not valid we to not text people to pay through a text program," Spyropoulos said.
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Employees at the Clerk's call center have been busy with people confused about the texted notice. The Clerk says anyone can verify a case by calling them or checking on the Clerk's website.
The Chief Judge of Cook County Circuit Court also issued a warning saying: "Do not scan the QR code. Do not submit payment through links or QR codes included in unsolicited messages. Do not provide personal or financial information in response to this notice."
Officials also recommended people who got the notices to report the scam to the Illinois Attorney General's Office Consumer Fraud Hotline at 1-800-386-5438.
"If you are seeing repetitive information or your not seeing specifics," Spyropoulos said. "If something doesn't look right, it's probably not right."
If you get a notice like this or something similar, Cook County officials urge you to do so research before following a QR code or clicking on the link.
To verify a Cook County court case, call 1-312-603-5030 or visit https://www.cookcountyclerkofcourt.org/.