Texts About Tolls Are Almost Always Scams. Here's How to Tell.
We asked transportation agencies across the country: None of them will text you with a link to pay tolls or tickets.
If you got a text message asking you to pay an unpaid toll, parking ticket, or moving violation, it is almost certainly a scam.
Consumer Reports asked every toll agency in the U.S. whether it sends text messages requesting payment. We can confidently say that every single text claiming to be from a toll agency and asking for payment is fake, although that may change in the future. If you respond to one, scammers will steal your information, which could put your identity and finances at risk.
How Can You Tell If a Text Is a Scam?
Toll and ticket scams are becoming more commonplace because it’s easy for scammers to send text messages by the millions, and because people tend to open them, says Guida. Plus, many tolling systems have automated billing, so the messages feel believable. These scams are sometimes known as “smishing,” because they rely on SMS text messages.
Scammers can use software to randomly generate phone numbers, or they can retrieve personal information such as phone numbers through data breaches or public social media profiles.
But Consumer Reports’ cybersecurity experts say there are a few telltale signs of a scam.
• The text is from a foreign number, with the wrong number of digits for a U.S.-based phone.
• The text includes a threat, telling you to pay immediately or face license suspension.
• A link in the text doesn’t end in .com or .gov, misspells the name of a government agency, and/or has odd hyphens in the URL.
• It asks you to reply “Y” to activate a link, which may bypass safety protocols on some phones.
• The message lacks details about your vehicle, account, or the location of the violation.
• The text has spelling errors, refers to a government agency by the wrong name, is from a state you’ve never been to, or is from a state that doesn’t have tolls.
• If you do make the mistake of clicking on a link, the site doesn’t make you input an invoice number or license plate—only your credit card number or Social Security number.
This is a photo of a real toll scam that one of my Auto Test Center coworkers got. It shows many of the common hallmarks of a scam text:
This phone number starts with a country code other than "1," which means the text is not being sent from the U.S.
Connecticut does not use the phrase "Bureau of Motor Vehicles."
Official messages usually don't have typos, such as the missing space between "June" and "20."
Connecticut does not have toll booths.
Although it has ".gov" in it, this is not a real .gov address. There's a dash between "gov" and "dfhs," and the site actually ends in ".bond," which is not an official government domain.
The message compels the recipient to pay as soon as possible.
It asks you to reply "Y" to activate a link, which may bypass safety protocols on some phones.
1. Report to the DMV violation database
2. Suspend your vehicle registration starting June 21
3. Suspend driving privileges for 30 days
4. Transfer to a toll booth and charge a 35% service fee
5. You may be prosecuted and your credit score will be affected
Pay Now:
https://ct.gov-dfhs.bond/dmv
Please pay immediately before enforcement to avoid license suspension and further legal disputes.
(Reply Y and re-open this message to click the link, or copy it to your browser.)