Facepalm: The FBI is as soon as once more warning about an SMS phishing marketing campaign focusing on drivers and automobile homeowners. The unknown cybercriminals are attempting to steal customers’ information and cash, although avoiding the rip-off appears straightforward sufficient: you simply need to do nothing and utterly ignore the incoming textual content message.
In April 2024, the FBI warned US residents about an ongoing smishing (or SMS phishing) marketing campaign spreading unsolicited requests to pay for nonexistent highway tolls. Now, the bureau’s Seattle division is repeating the alert by way of its official X/Twitter account. When you have obtained a textual content message suggesting you might have unpaid tolls in your car, FBI Seattle stated, you’re possible going through a scammer making an attempt to get your private info.
Based on the authentic alert launched final yr, this peculiar smishing rip-off affected 1000’s of individuals since early March 2024. The texts have been organized to look as in the event that they have been coming from a reliable state toll collector, with at the least three completely different states concerned. The rip-off was seemingly shifting from state-to-state, the FBI warned.
Have you ever obtained a textual content suggesting chances are you’ll owe unpaid tolls in your car? There’s a good likelihood it is a fraudster making an attempt to get your private info. Study extra about this rip-off right here: https://t.co/zYW4AzhdzG pic.twitter.com/iSA7b4NeYN
– FBI Seattle (@FBISeattle) March 19, 2025
The textual content, virtually similar in language in each single message, claimed that the recipient needed to pay a small sum of money for a highway toll. To keep away from paying a $50 price, the sufferer was invited to go to a seemingly safe web site to settle the problem on-line. The “excellent toll quantity” included within the SMS was comparable among the many many complaints obtained by the FBI, whereas the URL offered and the telephone quantity tended to alter from state to state.
The federal bureau is asking customers affected by the smishing marketing campaign to file a criticism by way of its Web Crime Criticism Middle web site. Individuals ought to at all times search for reliable toll providers and their official web sites earlier than clicking a hyperlink in an SMS, the FBI warned, whereas all smishing texts ought to, after all, be deleted instantly.
Alerts about unpaid stability will be an annoying and regarding, particularly since scammers are sensible sufficient to make their message sound pressing and official. Individuals could also be inspired to take a suggestion and keep away from paying for a late price, particularly in the event that they drive their automobile regularly and go to completely different US states.
The FBI’s smishing alert dates again over a yr, however it’s now being relaunched with no particular details about the present menace ranges. Official information says that there are round 242 million driver’s licenses within the US proper now, so the quantity of tried SMS scams is probably going excessive sufficient to warrant a brand new FBI alert on the matter. Because the FTC stated earlier this yr, if somebody is asking for cash through SMS, it is in all probability a rip-off.
