At the New to Las Vegas world headquarters today, I received by text message the nearby slightly-redacted-by-me “California Superior Court Subpoena” concerning a “toll violation” in our adjoining state. It’s clearly a scam. But sadly, as I discovered, neither the California court system nor the California Department of Motor Vehicles website has a good and quick way to report this mischief, which obviously tarnishes their good names.
Obviously, I am not the only person to get this stuff. The Federal Trade Commission even has a warning on its website. But at least I can point out a few problems for others who might also get these messages. Take a close look at the document. Then let us count the warning signs, some of which actually are quite ludicrous.
♦Court actions are not started by text messages. Period. Nor are they started by subpoenas. In the event of most alleged traffic infractions, they are started with a citation, sent by regular mail if not handed out on the spot by a cop.
♦Subpoenas are not issued to defendants, only to witnesses, and I can’t be forced to be a witness against myself.
♦Neither my name, address nor any personally identifying information appears on the document (because, of course, the scamsters have no idea to whom they are blasting this stuff).
♦The QR code, which I redacted, leads me to a website that looks like the California DMV site but has the the URL of “ca. org- tyslz. bond.” The top-level domain .bond is located in Luxembourg. Says a Google AI search, “The .bond top-level domain (TLD) is considered relatively risky and has been associated with high levels of abuse.”
♦The date of the purported hearing–tomorrow–is less than 24 hours away, a violation of due process rules.
♦The stated location of the courthouse, “1945 S ll St Los Angeles CA 90007,” is so garbled as to be incorrect, another violation of due process rules.
♦The hearing date is a Saturday, when courts do not convene.
♦I have never driven on a California toll road, not even during the seven years I lived there, a period of time that ended 15 years ago
♦The grammar is poor, with odd punctuation marks and capitalizations in the middle of sentences.
♦The “subpoena” is bizarrely signed by someone in the “Philadelphia Police Department.” Now, there are Philadelphia’s in Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Tennessee, New York, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri. But not, I’m pretty sure, in California, and certainly not in Los Angeles County.
♦I called the listed phone number from which this text was sent and got a recording, “Your request cannot be processed.”
The website of the California court system has no link to report this kind of fraud in its name and advised me to file a motion! The California DMV actually washes its hands with this punting statement: “If you’ve received a suspicious message, contact the Federal Trade Commission.”
OK. I don’t live in California anymore. But Gavin Newsom, where are you?