FBI warns of scam claiming drivers owe money for unpaid tolls
April 19, 2024 – Published on FOX 7 News Austin, TX
Since early March, the FBI has received more than 2,000 complaints from people receiving fraudulent text messages that claim they owe money for unpaid tolls.
The agency released a PSA this week on the “smishing scam.”
“Smishing combines two terms, SMS, which is text messaging, and phishing. So it’s using text messaging to do a phishing attack,” said Paul Keener, cybersecurity strategist at GuidePoint Security.
Phishing is literally a form of fishing, for your information or money.
“I call it a game of would you rather,” said Keener, referring to the recent toll road texts, which claim you have a small balance that needs to be paid, or you will be fined $50. “So would you rather pay money you don’t owe or pay more money to people that you don’t owe? Right. And so what it does is it creates this, this sense of, ‘Oh if I just pay this, it’ll be easier.’”
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