Decent people are assaulted regularly by scammers attempting to gain their personal information, their money, and usually, both.

A new round of scam attempts has taken things up a notch by including the state seal of West Virginia in its attempt. Law-abiding citizens are used to being able to believe that if something comes with that kind of official imagery, they should pay attention. And because they ARE the kinds of people who want to do the right thing, they are more likely to fall for attempts by those who would prey on their sense of responsibility by using state seals, bank logos and whatever else they can think of to give the appearance of legitimacy.

Buckeye State residents, too, are receiving text messages using the state seal of Ohio at the top of something along the lines of “Final notice – Court enforcement action.” In both states, the message then demands money to pay alleged fines owed and includes a QR code through which a victim is meant to enter payment information.

In West Virginia, local sheriff’s departments and Secretary of State Kris Warner were quick to understand the implications of using the state seal.

“This is clearly an illegal use of the state seal to make the message and demand for payment appear legitimate,” Warner said. “The use of the West Virginia state seal is clearly prohibited for this kind of message.”

Should you receive these or other kinds of messages that have the look of legitimacy, but instill panic and demand payment through a code or a link, DO NOT CLICK. Don’t open an attachment. Don’t interact with the message at all.

If you are truly worried, contact the agency or business from which the message was purportedly sent. But do so through a method outside the text or email. Contact the entity directly using a phone number you find on your own, to find out if they are actually trying to reach you. It is very likely they are not, as most legitimate government agencies and businesses will not seek payments or information through such means.

Again, many of these scams depend on responsible people panicking and making poor decisions. AARP recommends the pause, reflect and protect approach. Take a step back from the high emotion and sense of urgency and think. Do not act. Verify information by using a contact method you find on your own, rather than anything offered by the scammer. And set up multi-factor authentication on all your financial and personal accounts, if possible.

Scammers are counting on you to get flustered and make a mistake. Report scam attempts to local law enforcement, and stay vigilant, instead.