Colorado toll agency warns of 400% surge in text scams: "It's extremely frustrating"
When traveling in Colorado, using the toll lanes on most highways is often an easy way to get someplace faster. However, many drivers are hitting a strange roadblock in the form of a text message, saying they have an outstanding toll bill.
It's an issue the E-470 Customer Call Center in Aurora is dealing with every day.
"They're referencing either people's toll bill, or they're trying to say their DMV information is in jeopardy in the text, and they're trying to get people to click the links to make payment," explained Susan Ermisch, program manager of E-40's customer service department.
The center handles an average of 5,000 calls a day, she added, typically to help customers with their ExpressToll account. Lately, however, their call volume has spiked, with people worried about the odd text messages stating they owe money and must pay to avoid fines. In February alone, scam reports surged by 443%, according to the E-470 Public Highway Authority.
"In fact, we saw an increase of text scams over the weekend in this area and we already had a surge in calls this morning," said Ermisch.
Among the 100 customer service agents fielding those calls is Chantel Martinez, who's worked for the company for nearly two decades. With each call, she encourages people to not click the link in the message and offers resources if they did.
"In your 17 years of working here, have you ever seen anything like this?" CBS Colorado's Kelly Werthmann asked Martinez.
"Not like this, no," she replied. "It's heartbreaking. It's frustrating because it has nothing to do with us…. ExpressToll would never text you if you owed a bill."
The scam texts – and emails – are a widespread problem affecting tens of thousands of people across the country. Along with digital signs warning drivers of the fraud alert along the tollway, E-470 through ExpressToll is also sending emails to all customers to warn them of the scam message. They also have a fraud alert on their website.
"We believe people are getting sprayed based on phone lists that can be acquired on the dark web," said E-470's senior security engineer Kyle Seike.
Seike is among the experts in Colorado working continuously with other toll agencies in the U.S. as well as Canada to investigate the scams. He explained a large part of what he does, too, is ensure customer personal data is protected.
"It's extremely frustrating because it's on all levels," he said. "It's from the young to the old, to someone just getting to work, and we want people to trust our system and trust that it's safe to travel across our roads."
It's a difficult task, he said, with no real end to fraud scams in sight.
"They're playing on your fears," Seike said of the scammers. "They're playing on something you've done wrong… It's something we try to stay on top of and mitigate as much as we can."
All the more reason why customer service representatives like Martinez are happy to help.
"I love my customers," she said. "I will always do whatever I can to support them."
To avoid a text scam like this, the Federal Trade Commission also offers this consumer advice:
- Don't click on any links in, or respond to, unexpected texts. Scammers want you to react quickly, but it's best to stop and check it out.
- Check to see if the text is legit. Reach out to the state's tolling agency using a phone number or website you know is real — not the info from the text.
- Report and delete unwanted text messages. Use your phone's "report junk" option to report unwanted texts to your messaging app or forward them to 7726 (SPAM). Once you've checked it out and reported it, delete the text.
Learn more about spotting and avoiding text scams at ftc.gov/textscams.
