‘So legitimate looking': Unpaid toll scam targets South Florida drivers
South Florida drivers are receiving text messages and emails asking them to pay unpaid tolls, but it appears it’s a scam. A member of the NBC6 News team recently received a message which stated “This is a final reminder” for “unpaid tolls.” The FBI says it has received thousands of reports of messages like these used in toll road scams over the past year. Similar messages have been reported in Central Florida, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. Back in July, NBC6 Responds showed you text messages also urging action due to outstanding toll fees. At the time, a spokesperson with the Department of Transportation confirmed these messages were not authorized communications from their agency. “Sunpass does not ask customers via text to make a payment or to take immediate action on their account,” the spokesperson said. The recent messages are asking drivers to copy and paste a link into their browser. This is a big red flag, according to cyber security experts. “The real challenge for people here is that all of the communication, the websites, anything that’s incoming or when they’re clicking on the links, it is so legitimate looking. These are sophisticated scams,” said Eva Velasquez, with the Identity Theft Resource Center. Scammers could steal your credit card details, username and passwords, or gain access to your device. Spotting a phishing scam is the first step in protecting your information. Experts say you should look for strange sender email addresses, spelling and grammar mistakes, and unfamiliar links. Also threats or a false sense of urgency to take action often is another clue that the messages could be fraudulent in nature. “Use unique passwords across all of your accounts, 12 characters or longer. Don’t repeat it,” Velasquez said. If you come across one of these text or email messages, you can contact the FBI’s Internet Crime Center at IC3.gov. NBC6 reached out to the Department of Transportation about the specific message we received but we are still waiting to hear back.
South Florida drivers are receiving text messages and emails asking them to pay unpaid tolls, but it appears it’s a scam.
A member of the NBC6 News team recently received a message which stated “This is a final reminder” for “unpaid tolls.”
The FBI says it has received thousands of reports of messages like these used in toll road scams over the past year.
Similar messages have been reported in Central Florida, Illinois, and Pennsylvania.
Back in July, NBC6 Responds showed you text messages also urging action due to outstanding toll fees.
At the time, a spokesperson with the Department of Transportation confirmed these messages were not authorized communications from their agency.
“Sunpass does not ask customers via text to make a payment or to take immediate action on their account,” the spokesperson said.
The recent messages are asking drivers to copy and paste a link into their browser. This is a big red flag, according to cyber security experts.
“The real challenge for people here is that all of the communication, the websites, anything that’s incoming or when they’re clicking on the links, it is so legitimate looking. These are sophisticated scams,” said Eva Velasquez, with the Identity Theft Resource Center.
Scammers could steal your credit card details, username and passwords, or gain access to your device.
Spotting a phishing scam is the first step in protecting your information. Experts say you should look for strange sender email addresses, spelling and grammar mistakes, and unfamiliar links.
Also threats or a false sense of urgency to take action often is another clue that the messages could be fraudulent in nature.
“Use unique passwords across all of your accounts, 12 characters or longer. Don’t repeat it,” Velasquez said.
If you come across one of these text or email messages, you can contact the FBI’s Internet Crime Center at IC3.gov.
NBC6 reached out to the Department of Transportation about the specific message we received but we are still waiting to hear back.
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