WASHINGTON — Across the nation, officials are alerting citizens about a sharp rise in fraudulent text messages pretending to be from state road toll collection agencies. These deceitful messages aim to trick mobile users into providing financial details such as credit card numbers, banking information, or even direct payments.
These types of scams are known as smishing, a variant of phishing that employs SMS technology to deceive people into revealing sensitive financial data. In Louisiana, Attorney General Liz Murrill reported encountering such a scam claiming to be from the state’s GeauxPass toll system.
“This is a SCAM,” Murrill warned through a social media post recently. She advised people to be cautious and avoid clicking any suspicious links within these messages to protect their personal information from cybercriminals.
Interestingly, even states without toll roads, like Vermont, have observed an increase in these attacks. Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark cautioned in a video message, posted on social media, that travelers might mistakenly believe the fraudulent messages to be legitimate toll notices.
Cybersecurity experts from Palo Alto Networks disclosed that over 10,000 web domains have been set up by a threat actor to facilitate these scams. These scams mimic toll road services and package delivery notifications across at least ten U.S. states and Ontario, Canada.
To combat such scams, Apple has implemented a feature that blocks links in messages received from unknown sources on its devices. However, the scammers have found a way around this by instructing recipients to respond with “Y” to reactivate the conversation.
In an advisory dating back to last April, the FBI reported that the text scams often use nearly identical wording, falsely asserting that recipients owe unpaid tolls. Some texts threaten fines or suspension of driving privileges if ignored.
At that time, the FBI encouraged any individuals who receive these messages to file a report through their IC3 internet crime complaint center and to delete the fraudulent texts immediately. When reached for comment about any updates on the guidance, the FBI did not immediately respond.
To clarify previous misunderstandings, it should be noted that the FBI’s advisory about these scams was initially issued in April 2024, rather than as a new warning from recent weeks.
