A text message to consumers about an unpaid toll is likely a scam

I wasn’t sure this seemingly nuisance scam was worth writing about until two things happened. First, my son and one of my golfing buddies got the text message within a few days of each other. And second, when I Googled it, I found alerts from countless federal and state government agencies, including the FTC and FBI, and media outlets.

The scam involves trying to trick consumers into paying fake toll fees via text messages. One message said “The Toll Roads Notice of Toll Evasion: You have an unpaid toll bill on your account. To avoid late fees, pay within 12 hours or the late fees will be increased and reported to the DMV.” It included a link to pay the toll and closed with the rather friendly “The Toll Roads team wishes you a great day!”

The message my friend received was much more threatening. It began by saying “Pursuant to applicable U.S. federal and state traffic regulations” and then cited the possible consequences of not paying the toll within 15 days:

• Additional fines and administrative fees.
• Suspension or revocation of vehicle registration.
• Referral to collections, which may affect your credit.
• Potential civil or legal proceedings.

The amount he purportedly owed? A toll fee of $1.00 plus a late fee of $2.99, total $3.99. Some experts have suggested that a relatively low amount may prompt more people to pay without verifying they really owe the toll. People also tend to fall for the scam because text messages have high open rates, many drivers use toll roads, and people tend to react without thinking to threatening notices from government agencies.

In the old days, you generally paid a toll by stopping at a toll booth, but these days many tolls are assessed via electronic systems. I’ve incurred tolls I wasn’t even aware of but determined were legitimate.

Many of the fake messages demand more than $3.99 in payment, but the greater risk is providing personal and financial information when you click on the link to make a payment. In addition to your credit card account number, you may be asked to provide your driver’s license number (or even upload a copy), as well as other information that can be used to commit identity theft.

Text scams are called “smishing,” akin to “phishing” that attempts to scam you via email and “vishing” that does the same via phone calls. The FTC and BBB offer these tips to avoid becoming a victim of an unpaid toll or other smishing scam:

• Don’t click on any links in, or respond to, unexpected texts. Scammers want you to react quickly, but it’s best to stop and check it out. Simply clicking on a link or downloading an attachment in a phony text or email message could download malware to your device.
• Check to see if the text is legitimate. Reach out to the state’s tolling agency using a phone number or website you know is real – not the contact information in the text.
• Report and delete unwanted text messages. Use your phone’s “report junk” option to report unwanted texts to your messaging app or forward them to 7726 (SPAM). Once you’ve checked it out and reported it, delete the text.