Latest news with #tollscam
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
Police agencies across Western Washington warn of text scams
Multiple police agencies across Western Washington posted on social media this week, warning communities to look out for toll road text scams. The scammers send texts claiming to be from the DMV, the 'Seattle Vehicle Administration,' or Good To Go!, claiming that the user owes toll money and will face penalties if they do not pay via a link in the text. Police are warning people NOT to click these links. Back in March, KIRO 7 spoke to a Washington couple who wanted to warn the public after they lost more than $23,000 to the scam. 'They're good. They're really good. That chick knew everything. She said the right things and reassured us we were doing the right thing, and the whole time we weren't,' they said. The scammer used personal details to lead the couple into losing thousands. 'If you have any doubts at all, hang up and call the institution directly,' they said. As a reminder, WSDOT never texts toll notices, uses web addresses ending in '. and only sends reminders through mail or an official account. If you get a text from one of these scammers, Des Moines PD advises you not to reply, block the caller, and don't reply. You can also report the message as junk/spam. If concerned, you can check your account by visiting directly or by calling WSDOT. Here's a roundup of the local police agency posts:
Forbes
05-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Delete All Texts On Your Phone That Look Like This
This is what you need to look for. We have never seen a text message attack swarm across America to this extent. Driven by organized criminal gangs in China and beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement, the unpaid toll scam has become a pandemic infecting most states and major cities. We know there's worse to come. Those Chinese OCGs are turning to banking, chasing the same returns — money, financial details, identities. In the meantime, the toll scam has widened its net. Now it's likely to be a fake traffic offense that catches you out. This is now targeting the same long list of states and cities, but it's more frightening than a few dollars for an unpaid toll. Threats of vehicle registration and driving license suspensions, prosecution and heavy fines, even damaged credit scores. The outline is the same though. A lure in a text explaining the penalty, a crafted link that is designed to appear legitimate but will likely use a Chinese or generic top level domain, likely the clever use of '.com-' or similar to mimic real addresses. Delete all texts that look like this. You can see examples of the most recent texts on the New York DMV website. If you haven't received one yet, hold tight, you will. According to Google's latest scam survey, 'most [U.S. phone users] Google highlighted the toll scam when it introduced new Android scam detection and in its latest 'fraud and scams advisory.' This is a global threat. 'Attackers will 'follow the sun,' first sending scam messages mimicking toll roads in Europe, then in the East Coast of the US, then in the West Coast, and onwards over the course of a day.' Multiple DMVs are issuing new warnings (1,2). 'Fraudulent text messages are targeting recipients with false claims of unpaid traffic violations," with a scam that 'claims the recipient has an unpaid traffic ticket and threatens to suspend their driver license and vehicle registration if payment is not made immediately through a fraudulent link.' The advice remains the same. As the FBI has warned repeatedly. File a complaint, delete any texts you receive, and contact the DMV or toll agency directly if in doubt. If you've paid or given away personal information, make sure you secure those accounts.
