Federal officials warn about unpaid toll texts from coast to coast
People across the country have got scam texts requiring unpaid tolls and coughing otherwise. This is what you need to know.
Straight Arrow News
American inboxes face daily floods of unnecessary spam. Phishing texts claiming that no tolls have been paid or that the package cannot be delivered, calls from lawyers who promise to erase their debts, and malware emails that offer prize money from sweepstakes that no one has ever entered.
The youngest and oldest of us have developed a way to manage a huge amount of messages by “deleting” them at the moment when something appears to have passed the spam filter. But this instinct runs the risk of missing a real emergency message that California residents have learned the hard way.
Ashley, 47, said she received texts from figures claiming it was a toll road, a California passerby manager.
She did just that, with everyone who advises consumers to remove fake text messages about tolls from their mobile phones, from the federal government to the tolls themselves.
“I thought it was a scam and I thought, ‘Oh, I’m not going to fall into it, I’m too smart,’ so I kept deleting it,” she told USA Today. “Ahead of this, they were communicating with me via email, and they didn’t even know they had my phone number.
There was little evidence that Ashley would click on the link asking for “Now.” Warnings about a storm of phishing texts from scammers pretending to be paid authorities have been issued by the Federal Trade Commission by the FBI agency since January.
Ashley said there’s no reason to believe these are different, as she received obviously fake texts from senders who claim to be from UPS, FedEx, her bank and more. It was a big bold deactivation notice until she received the email, which was eventually reviewed by USA Today.
When the “fraud” text turns out to be authentic
“(Email) said, “We have deactivated your account. If you use one of our toll roads again, you’ll be a terrible violation,” Ashley said. “And I’ve been using them all the time so I panicked.”
At that time, she finally logged in, checked her account and found out she had been disconnected from the auto-reregistration feature that had previously been attached to her bank card.
“I got into my account and in fact it was deactivated, cancelled, and in reality all of those text messages were from them,” she said.
Luckily, she still hadn’t balanced the massive unpaid tolls and fees, but she said the idea that she could break the law or put her in a bad position without bothering her knowledge.
“Whenever I get a text message saying, ‘I need to send you money’ or ‘click this link’, I don’t know where it came from, so I’ll automatically delete it,” she said. “I’m wondering how companies can communicate with their customers through textbooks. There are as many scams as they can, so I don’t think they don’t believe texts from legal businesses, so I’m not sure they can.”
Passengers recommend caution
Michelle Kennedy, media relations manager for Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA), which runs Toll Roads, told USA Today in an email that while some account holders may receive texts about legitimate account issues, the “majority” of text interactions reported to agents is related to fraud.
“(TCA) will send an accounting message to an accounting message only if you choose to receive the message. It will only be sent if your account cannot process payments.
Customers may also receive interactions from legitimate customer service representatives via email, phone or physical email.
“There are several ways (TCA) customers can interact with toll roads, check account status, establish accounts, manage accounts, pay tolls, and resolve violations,” she said.
How to Find Text Message Scams
Ashley was able to reactivate his account without paying huge fees, but accounts that become delinquent could result in penalties of hundreds, or even thousands of dollars, in other states.
With iPhones and Androids surges by over 700% in June alone, the need for attention seems to be vanishing anytime soon, so how can consumers protect themselves from malicious texts without missing any real important text?
Leila Bilge, the global head of fraud research at antivirus and cybersecurity software company Norton, has some tips.
“It’s not enough to rely solely on instincts as fraudulent messages are becoming more persuasive,” she said. “Think your inbox like a busy street. Some doors lead to real business, others are traps. You won’t be stepping into sketchy alleys just because someone screams your name, so treat suspicious messages the same.”
Bilge’s checklist for verifying the validity of the text includes some simple follow tips.
- Don’t just trust the name – Scammers can expand the sender’s name. Tap a contact to view the actual email or phone number behind it. Also, just because your message includes a full name doesn’t necessarily mean it’s authentic.
- Stop pressure – Emergency languages like “Act Now” and “Question Now” are classic scam plays. Legal businesses rarely create such panic.
- Ask yourself: Did I expect this? – Do not take bait if you haven’t been waiting for delivery or notifications. This doesn’t always apply to unexpected bank alerts such as credit card fraud, but the key is not to panic and check directly with your bank.
- Go directly to source – Do not reply or click on a message. Open the official website or app and see if there are any items that require attention.
“When people feel that they understand how fraud works and are equipped to safely verify their messages, they are more likely to pause, think, and make the right phone call without missing out on anything important,” she said. “The more we are calm and confident, the more difficult it will be for a con man to succeed.”
