Messages also include a QR code directing victims to a website to pay the “fee.”
According to the attorney general’s office, the messages aren’t connected to the court system at all, and the website that is linked in the document has been traced overseas.
To protect themselves from scams, the attorney general’s office advised not to scan QR codes or click links on unexpected legal notices, to verify information on such notices by contacting the court using its official phone number or website and to look for warning signs like incorrect seals, unfamiliar web addresses and unusual instructions.
Also, anyone who thinks they have received a scam notice can file a complaint with the Ohio Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Section by visiting www.OhioProtects.org or by calling 800-282-0515.
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