Have you received a text this week or recently regarding an unpaid toll or even a title of a text that reads: “The Toll Roads Notice of Toll Evasion”?
Keep reading even if you never use a toll road! This isn’t a new scam but this week it resurfaced all across the country. It’s been in national news and various state agencies have made announcements as well.
If you receive this text, delete it immediately and report as JUNK and BLOCK the number!
Here’s how the scam works:
- You receive a text that states that you have an unpaid toll that needs to be paid immediately. The wording may be different, or it may have a title from a toll agency or even include your state agency name.
- The text may request that you type “Y” in order to receive the information about the unpaid toll.
- It uses a sense of urgency and fear so that you will act immediately. Some consequences if you don’t act include:
- You will incur a fee.
- You will be reported to the DMV.
- Your license will be revoked.
- The text will include the amount you owe and include a link. Once you click on the link, you will be taken to a fraudulent site where it will ask you for your information to pay the toll.
- Once you click the link and enter your information, an error will display requesting to try another card or account number. The goal here is to obtain as many card numbers as possible or account information to steal your money.
- This link may also download malware to your phone or the device you are using even if you do not enter your information.
If you are a victim of this scam and you clicked on the link or entered your information, do the following:
- Contact your bank or credit card company immediately and explain you are a
- victim of a scam.
- Reset your passwords.
- Contact the credit bureaus and place a freeze on your account.
- Install Anti-Virus software.
The scammers continue to get increasingly sophisticated with their scams.
- The sites they are creating look legitimate.
- They play off our emotions so that we become careless.
- They know we are always in a hurry and tend to react quickly.
Stay vigilant and don’t let them trick you and steal your hard-earned money.