March 16, 2025 There has been a recent surge in text message scams posing as notifications about unpaid tolls, aiming to steal personal and financial information from unsuspecting recipients.

Scammers send text messages claiming the recipient has outstanding toll balances that require immediate payment to avoid penalties. These messages often include a link to a fake payment website designed to capture sensitive information such as credit card numbers and driver’s license details. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warns that clicking on these links can lead to identity theft and financial loss.

The spammers are probably not motivated by any small payment they might ask for – it’s most likely the banking information they are looking for. One report is that that the cost of the cell numbers they are using could be as high as 90 thousand dollars. That would imply that this is a very profitable scam.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reported a significant increase in complaints related to these scams, with over 2,000 incidents recorded in a single month. The fraudulent messages are tailored to appear as though they originate from legitimate toll agencies, enhancing their credibility.

Several toll agencies and state authorities have issued warnings to alert drivers:

Illinois Tollway: Advises that they do not send unsolicited text messages requesting payment and urges recipients of such messages to report them.

– The Toll Roads (California): Warns customers to disregard phishing texts detailing specific outstanding toll amounts or notices of toll evasion.

To safeguard against these scams, the FBI and FTC recommend the following actions not to click on links and to verify any text requests through official channels.

You can use your phone’s “report junk” feature or forward the message to 7726 (SPAM). But this will have limited impact as the spammers just change numbers.

But the recommendation is that you do not respond, even with the classic STOP message. This only let’s the scammers know that yours if a valid number.

While this is the latest scam to exploit text messaging, it is only one of many. For our corporate listeners, if you do not have a specific communications program regarding safe use of text messaging, it may be time to add this to your anti-phishing training.