Checked
Written from official fraud-agency notices. Every figure and piece of advice is checked against the sources listed at the bottom.
What we found
Set out in the same plain format as reader reports.
- What kind of scam?
- Fake links and messages
- In short
- A text says you owe an unpaid road toll and links to a page that copies your state's toll service. The page wants your card details.
- How does it reach you?
- Text message
- What does the message look like?
- Example text. The first line is wording quoted in the FBI's April 2024 alert.We've noticed an outstanding toll amount of $12.51 on your record. Pay now to avoid a late fee of $50.00. tollpay-secure-notice.example/pay
- How can you spot it?
- A toll you cannot place
The text does not name a road, a date or a plate. Nearly identical wording went to people in many states. - A late fee and a deadline
The pressure to pay now is the whole trick. - A link that copies a real name
The fake pages imitate the name of the state's toll service. - A sender number that keeps changing
The FBI saw the sending numbers change from state to state.
- A toll you cannot place
- Is it growing?
- It is active now
- What do the sources say?
- Between early March 2024 and its alert on 12 April 2024, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than 2,000 complaints about these texts from at least three states. [1]
- Where do I report it?
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center
ic3.gov
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center
If this happened to you
- Do not tap the link. Delete the text.
- To check a toll, type the toll service's address yourself or call the customer service number on its real website.
- If you tapped and typed in details, secure your accounts and dispute any charge you do not recognise.
- Report it at ic3.gov. Include the number the text came from and the website named in it.
Sources (1)
Sources
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center: Public service announcement I-041224-PSA (12 Apr 2024)