Don’t Fall for This Unpaid Toll Text Scam

Being told you owe money to a government agency isn’t fun. On the contrary, it’s quite stressful. If you find out you’re on the hook for some fee or fine, you’ll want to pay right away, to avoid any further fees or consequences.

However, if you find out about your “unpaid toll” via text message, you probably don’t owe any money in the first place. In fact, you should probably just delete the message, as it’s a scam.

Here’s how the scheme works: Bad actors craft a message from a “toll agency,” claiming with urgency that you have a certain amount in unpaid tolls you owe the agency. If you don’t pay, they are adamant you will face serious ramifications, and conveniently include a link for you to visit to pay up. Sometimes, the link appears to lead to agency of the state you live in, adding to the realism of the scam.

Whether or not you actually owe money from any toll booth is irrelevant—no agency will contact you this way. The FTC says as much on its website. The agency posted about the scam back in January, no doubt due to the number of scam texts that we all receive about unpaid tolls.

If you were to tap that link, it would likely lead to a fake agency website, asking for your personal information. This is a phishing scheme, as the bad actors want you to give up this data willingly so they can use it against you.

You aren’t in trouble if you receive one of these texts: only if you respond to it.