Welcome to the golden age of scam, Time magazine declared last fall. Even the most skeptical of cynics is vulnerable to falling victim to today’s sophisticated scams.
And as more and more American consumers fall victim to scams, the scammers themselves simply continue to further hone their grift and come up with new ways to defraud victims.
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One emerging scam has recently caught the attention of the Federal Trade Commission. Scammers pretending to be toll collection agencies have started texting drivers, saying they owe money for unpaid tolls, warns the FTC.
Some drivers in New York City have been unlucky enough to experience the scam firsthand, according to a Fox5 report. Customers of E-ZPass, the NYC electronic toll system that replaces booths, have been receiving texts demanding toll payments. The messages tell recipients to click a link to avoid steep late fees.
Except the messages, even if they look legitimate to the average person, are fake. Here’s what officials say you need to know to protect yourself.
NYC drivers targeted in scam
In the case of the NYC E-ZPass scam, customers reported receiving texts beginning with names like “New York Toll Services” or “E-Z Pass,” which was then followed by a message stating they have an unpaid toll invoice for their vehicle and that excessive late fees will be incurred if they don’t pay the balance by a certain date.
A fake link is included to make the payment. But once people click on that link, Adam Scott Wandt points out, they get drawn further into the scam and then are sometimes asked to pay by credit card.
It’s from there the scammers were able to gain access to their victims’ banking and other personal information.
In his interview with Fox 5, Wandt, an associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, pointed out that considering how many companies have had data breaches in recent years, millions of consumers’ private information has landed in the wrong hands.
If you’ve received a scammy text message or email, the FTC recommends you report it as junk and delete it from your inbox. One of the best ways to avoid falling victim to a scam is to not engage in the first place.
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How to protect yourself
The New York customer service center managing toll collections told Fox 5 it was fully aware of the issue and is raising awareness of it through social media, emailing customers and media announcements.
They also reminded customers that they’ll only get texts from them if they’ve signed up for alerts, and they’ll never ask for money or other personal information, like a credit card number, Social Security number or birth date.
SMS scams like this are certainly not new or unique to the U.S., which lost about $330 million to them in 2022. But what can you do to protect yourself from becoming a victim?
One way to tell whether texts are fake is the number they’re sent from, which is typically international. You’ll often then get a request to reply with “Y” to receive a link and an unofficial website.
Wandt believes it’s up to cellphone carriers to intercept fake texts, but without any existing policy in place around that, consumers need to protect themselves and should never click on any questionable links.
When in doubt, you can always contact the named company to ask about the message. They’ll tell you if it was legit.
To help stop scam text messages, the Federal Trade Commission suggests reporting them. Forward any that you receive to 7726 (SPAM), to Apple iMessage or Google’s Messages app for Android and to ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
