WALTHAM — Drivers in Massachusetts are being warned about scam text messages claiming they owe money for unpaid tolls.
Text message looking for unpaid toll
It all starts with a text message that looks like an unpaid toll booth bill from E-ZPass, but the agency says they’re fake. A Waltham driver posted the message she received on social media, warning others that the charge was for tolls she never passed.
CBS Boston
The scam is known to the FBI. The agency said they have received more than 2,000 complaints since early March. Jennifer Coffindaffer, a retired FBI special agent, said the scam works because the money is collected in small increments for a mistake that is easily made.
“Toll booths are everywhere in the United States and you don’t really stop at a booth. Sometimes you may not even know you paid a toll and then all of a sudden you have to pay a toll,” Coffindaffer said. “This is a big reason why this scam is really taking off.”
E-ZPass will never contact you via text message
Coffindaffer said there is one way to know if you are being scammed; she said a toll authority will never contact you via text message.
“Don’t click on the link, but you can contact the toll authority to make sure you don’t owe anything,” Coffindaffer said.
E-ZPass said it is aware that scammers claim to represent the agency. They said the scammers randomly target numbers that are not necessarily linked to an account. If you receive one of these text messages, report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Laura Haefeli
