Right as summer driving season starts — beware fake unpaid toll text messages. The messages prey on drivers’ (realistic) fears of getting hit by an onerous late fee after traveling through an unfamiliar toll authority’s territory.
The fraudulent text messages look like this, according to the FBI.
“We’ve noticed an outstanding toll amount of $12.51 on your record,” the text of one such message reads. “To avoid a late fee of $50.00, visit https://XXXturnpiketollservices.com to settle your balance.”
The scam has apparently become common enough that Florida state attorney general Ashley Moody held a press conference about it on Thursday to announce a crackdown; the state of Pennslyvania’s toll authority issued a warning on Twitter last month.
“Cybercriminals are sending text messages to thousands of unsuspecting drivers in the hopes that some of them will be tricked into paying a toll fee for a violation that never occurred,” Moody said during her event. She noted that Florida has 700 miles of toll roads, making drivers in the state a target for criminals.
A month ago, the FBI said it had already received 2,000 complaints from drivers in three states about the fraudulent text messages. The Identity Theft Resource Center then said it had received complaints from 12 states by May 1.
“The texts claim the recipient owes money for unpaid tolls and contain almost identical language,” the FBI said. “The ‘outstanding toll amount’ is similar among the complaints reported to the IC3. However, the link provided within the text is created to impersonate the state’s toll service name, and phone numbers appear to change between states.”
As always, if you get an unexpected message with bad news that scares you or raises your blood pressure, don’t do anything right away. Investigate the issue yourself, using contact information you have independently verified as valid. And if you can, talk to a loved one or a trusted friend before doing anything.
Have you received one of these scam texts? Let me know.
Uber driver fatally shot
An Ohio man who had been communicating with criminals attempting to commit a “grandparent scam” shot and killed an Uber driver that he said he believed was part of the scam last month; he has been indicted for murder and pleaded not guilty.
Police say 81-year-old Michael Brock told them he had spent hours talking on the phone with someone who claimed that his nephew was in jail and needed bail money. Brock allegedly believed that Lo-Letha Hall, 61, had come to his house to pick up the money. He accused her of being part of the scam, and when she tried to leave, he fatally shot her.
Local news reports indicate Hall was an Uber driver simply picking up a package for what she thought was a normal delivery.
“Upon being contacted by Ms. Hall, Mr. Brock produced a gun and held her at gunpoint, making demands for identities of the subjects he had spoken with on the phone,” the sheriff’s office said, according to the Associated Press. Hall was unarmed and unthreatening, the sheriff’s office alleges in that story. A video posted on a local news site shows her walking away from Brock as he threatens her with a gun.
“I’m sure glad to see you guys out here because I’ve been on this phone for a couple hours with this guy trying to say to me I had a nephew in jail and had a wreck in Charleston and just kept hanging on and needing bond money,” Brock said to police, according to the Associated Press. “And this woman was supposed to get it.”
According to a memorial page set up for Hall, she was retired.
Here are a few other stories I noticed this week in the scam world:
- The FBI issued its annual Elder Fraud Report this week. It found that complaints by victims 60 and older were up 14 percent from last year. Those victims told the FBI that $3.4 billion had been stolen in 2023— up 11%. The average theft was $33,915. Tech support scams were the most common crime. Read the full report here.
- Hall of Fame pitcher and Baltimore Orioles announcer Jim Palmer alleges in a lawsuit that a former family friend stole $1 million from him through a bogus investment. Palmer had earlier revealed the allegations but posted a copy of the lawsuit to Twitter this week. In it, he alleges this former friend had gained the family’s confidence by caring for Palmer’s autistic stepson. He ultimately became the stepson’s legal guardian before asking to borrow money from Palmer.
Be the first to comment