Texts about outstanding toll balances are scams

Many roads across the country have tolls, which require people to make a payment in order to drive a specific route. Tolls usually can be paid with cash or electronically. 

Some states use toll collection companies like E-Z Pass or SunPass to collect money from drivers electronically. If a toll payment is missed, drivers may receive a notice about the toll violation or have to pay an additional fee.

People online have said they’ve received text messages about toll payments. The text messages typically tell the recipient they have an outstanding toll balance and directs them to click a link to avoid a $50 late fee. 

THE QUESTION

Are text messages about an outstanding toll balance legitimate?

THE SOURCES

• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Better Business Bureau
• E-Z Pass, a toll collection company used in 19 states
• SunPass, a toll program used in Florida
• Virginia Department of Transportation
• Ohio Turnpike
• New York State Thruway Authority
• Pennsylvania Turnpike
• Illinois Tollway
• E-470 Public Highway Authority
• FBI Houston
• RiverLink, toll system in Louisville, Kentucky and southern Indiana
• Peach Pass, a toll collection company used in Georgia
• New Jersey Turnpike Authority
• Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority
• North Carolina Department of Transportation

THE ANSWER

No, text messages about an outstanding toll balance are not legitimate. They are scams.  

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WHAT WE FOUND

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) both say messages that claim you have an outstanding toll balance are scams. 

In an alert on its website, the FBI says its Internet Crime Complaint Center has received over 2,000 complaints since March about the messages. 

The BBB also says it has received several reports about the scam text, with multiple complaints from people who say they received a text message about tolls in a state they hadn’t traveled to.

Several government organizations and toll agencies across the country have also issued warnings about the scam texts, including agencies in Virginia, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Denver, Georgia, California, North Carolina and Texas. 

Most of these warnings say the message is a scam because toll collection agencies would never send a text message with personal account information to customers. 

E-Z Pass, a toll collection company used in 19 states, has an alert on its website warning customers to not “click on any links or call any phone numbers in the message.”

The scam texts also typically have multiple red flags that indicate they’re not legitimate. One text shared with VERIFY claims to come from “Ohio toll services.” But the message was sent from a 306 area code, which traces back to Saskatchewan, a province in Canada. 

The link for the recipient to pay their supposed outstanding balance has the URL “sunpasstollsservices.com.” SunPass is a toll collection company only used in Florida, not Ohio. 

That’s also not a valid URL for SunPass’ website. The company issued an alert, stating that “SunPass does not ask customers via text to make a payment or to take immediate action on their account.”

The reason why certain people are being contacted for the scam is currently unclear. North Carolina’s Department of Transportation says “the targeted phone numbers seem to be chosen at random and are not uniquely associated with an account or usage of toll roads.”

The BBB recommends avoiding clicking on links in suspicious or unsolicited text messages and instead going to the business’ official website or contacting their customer service to confirm the contents of a message. 

If you receive the scam text, you can report it on the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center’s website. You can also report it to the BBB’s Scam Tracker. Do not click on any links included in the text. Delete the message and block the sender.