Government agencies and consumer-protection bodies in the United States and Europe are warning of a sharp rise in SMS phishing schemes that impersonate traffic and financial authorities. The Arizona Department of Transportation said motorists are receiving texts claiming they have “outstanding traffic tickets,” while media outlets in Michigan and Illinois report similar messages that reference a non-existent “Michigan DMV.” Officials advise recipients to ignore the texts, report them as junk and delete them without clicking embedded links. Parallel campaigns have appeared in Europe ahead of the summer travel season. French and Dutch news organizations report fraudulent texts that purport to come from motorway operators and demand immediate payment of unpaid tolls. In Spain, the National Police cautioned users about a new variant that exploits the Bizum instant-payment service to drain bank accounts within seconds. Financial regulators are also seeing related activity. The Banco de Portugal said fraudsters are posing as recovery specialists for lost crypto-asset investments, persuading victims to transfer additional funds or reveal wallet credentials. Security experts describing the wave of schemes say the messages rely on urgency and official-looking language to harvest personal data and money. Authorities on both sides of the Atlantic recommend verifying any alleged fines or account issues through official websites, refraining from clicking links in unsolicited messages and reporting suspected scams to law-enforcement or telecom providers.