Scam Alert: Texas Toll Texts Are Totally Fake

Texas is one hot spot for a scam that is appearing all over right now.

Tolls

I live in a Texas town that does not have any toll roads, but I do travel to a number of towns that have several. This can resort in some real confusion when tolls are not part of your day-to-day activity. This is what the scammers are hoping for, that you'll be naïve enough to respond even though you really don't owe anything.

The Scam

The text on the scam messages is as follows.

The Toll Roads Notice of Toll Evasion: You have an unpaid toll bill on your account. To avoid late fees, pay within 12 hours or the late fees will be increased and reported to the DMV.

https://txtag.org-bxlvh.vip/vip

(Please reply Y, then exit the text message and open it again to activate the link, or copy the link to your Safari browser and open it)

The Toll Roads team wishes you a great day!

Red Flags

There are certainly some red flags here. The first thing that should tip you off is that suffix at the end of the web address. Txtag.org is a thing, that extension is an off-road into scam-land (Also, I've seen multiple addresses used).

Deep Dive

Looking further into this mess, what is "reported to the DMV" even supposed to mean. That's a pretty weak threat. Are they going to get mad and take a bad picture of me? I don't believe the DMV has anything to do with toll roads and/or enforcement of tolls.  Lastly, the clunky language is a bit of a giveaway. Things like "The Toll Roads Notice Of Toll Evasion" sounds like a department in a Saturday Night Live Skit.

General Warnings & Tips

Scammers are always looking for ways to take your money. If something seems funny or off, don't click or call on these messages. In fact, in most cases you can just copy and past the text and ask, "Is this a scam?" and you'll get a quick response online. In the meantime, just delete the messages so that you don't actually open one up.