You’ve probably gotten the text or you know someone who has.
It says you have an overdue toll bill that needs to be paid. The various messages come with threats: You’ll get hit with a fine, you’ll get reported to the Department of Motor Vehicles, there will be “impacts” to your driver’s license.
Don't click the link! Report it as junk!
This message, sent from the “Toll Roads Notice of Toll Evasion” is a "smishing" scam, a term combining SMS (short message service) and phishing. The Texas Department of Transportation is warning folks to avoid falling for it.
“It’s important for people to know TxTag will never send emails or text messages to customers about payment reminders or past bill balances,” Adam Hammons, TxDOT media relations director, said. “So if you see anything like that, anything that says, ‘Hey you need to pay now, you have an overdue bill,’ that is most likely a scam.”
If you do get a text from TxTag, it’ll come from 22498.
The smishing scam isn’t new, but it has been ramping up in recent weeks. Hammons said the recent switch in toll transaction processing from TxTag to the Harris County Toll Road Authority could lead to confusion.
“It’s unfortunate timing because we are still in somewhat of a transition period going to the Harris County Toll Road Authority,” he said. “People are still getting use to that and paying through them is a different process.”
If you have driven on a toll road recently and think you have a bill that needs to be paid, contact the HCTRA directly.
Hammons said TxDOT has been getting a lot of calls about the scam, so if it happens to you, save yourself from a wait on the customer service line. Instead, Hammons recommends filing a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Center. You can do that by going to www.ic3.gov.
