It looks official. A text message from E-Z Pass or some other toll company saying, “Final Reminder: You owe an outstanding toll. Pay by March 31 to avoid additional fees or legal action.”
It’s the most recent attempt by scammers to get your money.
The Federal Trade Commission and several departments of motor vehicles across the U.S., including Virginia and Maryland, have issued official warnings about the scam, urging residents to not fall for it.
The FTC has issued guidelines on how to avoid being taken for a ride:
- 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.
- Check to see if the text is legit. Reach out to the state’s tolling agency using a phone number or website you know is real — not the info from 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.
Criminals are constantly trying to get personal information. If you fall for the scam, immediately freeze your cards if you gave a number.
Experts said it’s impossible to stop the scam texts from coming in, but there are some ways you might recognize they are not legitimate. Think, misspelled words, awkward phrases and referrals to shady nonofficial websites.
The FBI also said you can report these texts to the Internet Crime Complaint Center. You can do this by sharing the phone number the text came from and the website sent in the text. This all helps the government and service providers in stopping criminals.
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