Beware of text messages claiming you owe a toll fee; do not click any links. People across the US are being targeted by fake toll collectors, as warned by the FBI. E-ZPass and other legitimate toll agencies do not send texts to non-account holders. The FBI first raised alarm about these phishing texts last year, and the scam has since spread widely. Law enforcement agencies are issuing repeated alerts to raise awareness of the scheme. Most toll agencies do not use text messages for fee collection, making these scams relatively easy to identify. One recent scam text purported to be from E-ZPass, a popular toll payment service. The use of foreign phone numbers in some scam texts is a clear indicator of fraud. The FTC advises against clicking on any links in suspicious texts, verifying with the agency if necessary, or simply deleting the message. If you encounter a suspected scam, report it to the FTC’s consumer fraud complaints division at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
