Have you gotten any urgent text messages on your phone lately letting you know that you owe money for unpaid highway tolls? Well, there’s good news and there’s bad news.
The good: You almost certainly don’t have to pay anything to whomever sent the text.
The bad: You’ve become the quarry in a smishing expedition.
Smishing, as defined by Bank of America, is a kind of phishing scam where swindlers use text messages—or SMS (short message service) communications, hence the smish—in order to trick victims into sharing sensitive data such as credit card numbers or driver’s license details.
Unpaid Tolls Text Scam: What to Watch Out For
In the case of the unpaid tolls scam, the mark receives a text ostensibly from a toll collection service such as E-ZPass or FasTrak alerting the recipient to an outstanding balance for unpaid tolls, along with a warning about possible late fees and a link leading to a webpage for payment via credit card.
The payment website, however, is designed to impersonate the legit toll service site for the purpose of stealing your money and personal information.
In a warning issued last year, the FBI supplied an example of the text template often followed by fraudsters:
“(State Toll Service Name): We’ve noticed an outstanding toll amount of $12.51 on your record. To avoid a late fee of $50.00, visit https://[LINK] to settle your balance.“
The FBI has logged complaints about the scammy texts from people in numerous states. The fraudulent messages might claim to come from your home state toll service or elsewhere.
Drivers who have recently completed out-of-state road trips might be especially susceptible to the scam, since they’re liable to be less familiar with the traffic laws in another state and scammers can capitalize on any confusion. The fraudulent texts may also pretend to be from states you haven’t even visited.
Acknowledging the scam remains a problem, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission issued a consumer alert about the issue last month.
“Not only is the scammer trying to steal your money,” the advisory states, “but if you click the link, they could get your personal info (like your driver’s license number)—and even steal your identity.”
What to Do if You Receive a Text About Unpaid Tolls
Consumer protection pros and law enforcement authorities alike advise the following for people who receive any texts about unpaid tolls.
First and foremost, don’t click any links or respond to unexpected texts.
Instead, delete the message from your phone and use the “report junk” feature to lower your chances of getting similar communications.
If you think you might actually owe money for an unpaid toll, the FTC recommends that you reach out to the state’s legit tolling agency “using a phone number or website you know is real—not the info from the text.”
Though a few states do inform people of outstanding toll fees by text, according to HuffPost, the vast majority of toll fee notices come through the mail. So getting that info straight to your phone should immediately put you on your guard.
The FBI advises those who receive fraudulent texts to file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center, including the phone number where the text came from and the URL of the website linked in the text (which you definitely did not click, right?). Obviously, if you’re gonna go this route, you’ll want to make sure you jot down the scammer’s number and URL before you delete the text forever.
If you did click the link in the fraudulent tolls text or provided any information by responding or entering details on the dupe site, “take efforts to secure your personal information and financial accounts,” urges the FBI. That means keeping a close eye on your accounts, changing your passwords, and disputing any unfamiliar charges.
Remember to stay vigilant wherever the possibility of money changing hands arises, because you can bet scammers will figure out a way to exploit it.
Ask not for whom the toll trolls trawl—they smish for thee.