Michigan police warn about growing number of unpaid toll scam texts
Police in Northville Township, Michigan, are raising awareness about a scam many people have encountered in the past few months: text messages claiming unpaid highway tolls.
While Michigan doesn't have toll roads, the scam still targeted residents, especially those who recently traveled through neighboring states, Indiana, Ohio or Illinois.
Northville Township Deputy Police Chief Matthew MacKenzie says his 90-year-old father, who lives on the border of Ohio and Indiana, received a text about alleged unpaid tolls.
"I got a call from my 90-year-old father last week. He's gotten a couple over the last several months. He said this last one was a little more aggressive in its nature," MacKenzie said.
The text messages include threats of late fees as a technique to lure in victims. They'll also try to steal financial information if you pay the bogus balances on the thousands of fake sites set up by scammers.
"So not only have you provided several forms of payment to this scammer, you're becoming vulnerable to identity theft as well," MacKenzie told CBS News Detroit.
Experts say strange area codes, general language in the texts, or threats of legal action are all red flags that you should report as a scam. It's also likely a scam if you haven't driven on a toll road recently. However, it raises the question of how your information was obtained in the first place.
Illinois Tollway also urges anyone who received one of these texts to verify their travel on their website, call their customer support line, and report the texts to the FBI's Internet crimes division.
"I think we all have to assume that our information is out there. You can go to a number of third-party data broker sites, and what you're going to see is your name, your residence, all the different places that you've been. You certainly see your phone number and email address," said cybersecurity expert David Derigiotis.
Derigiotis says the websites linked in the messages might appear legitimate, but if you go to an official website, you'll be able to get real answers on your toll road balance.
"If you're on the official site and they say, 'Yep, you did go through, and there wasn't a toll,' then at least you can verify with the entity itself," he says.
