HONOLULU (KHON2) — The Hawaiʻi State Judiciary is warning residents about a recent text message scam that falsely claims recipients owe money for traffic citations.
Scammers have been sending fraudulent messages to people across the state. These texts claim to be from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and threaten to suspend the recipient’s driver’s license and vehicle registration unless a payment is made.
The texts also mention a “service fee” and falsely warn that credit scores may be negatively impacted if no payment is received.
The judiciary clarified that neither state courts nor the DMV initiate contact about unpaid traffic citations through text messages, phone calls or email — unless you first reached out directly with a specific inquiry. Instead, official notifications are sent through U.S. mail.
State officials are reminding the public that legitimate court communications will never demand immediate payment through digital platforms or include threats tied to vehicle registration or credit status.
If you receive a suspicious message, do not respond or provide any personal information.
Instead, the judiciary recommends you report the scam to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the U.S. General Services Administration or CrimeStoppers Honolulu.
For anyone uncertain about whether they may have unpaid citations, the judiciary encourages using eCourt Kokua, which is the Judiciaryʻs public online case look-up system.
Check out more news from around Hawaii
Using that system, one can search by their full name or license plate number to verify the status of any citations. The “case search” feature allows users to find detailed information about any pending or resolved traffic matters.