Bleeping Computer reports a text scam requesting payments for overdue parking tickets: “…a massive wave of phishing text messages has caused numerous cities throughout the US to issue warnings, including from Annapolis, Boston, Greenwich, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Milwaukee, Salt Lake City, Charlotte, San Diego, San Francisco, and many others.”
The scammers use a re-direct by google to circumvent Apple’s policy of disabling suspicious links on the iPhone. The scammers sometimes ask for amounts as small as $4, because they are interested in poaching your identifying details and of course your credit card.
As a general rule, if you receive a text from an unknown phone number or email address that is an out-of-the-blue greeting or asks you to click a link, pay a bill, or respond in some manner, you should report and block the number instead.