FBI Warning On Malicious Texts: Everything You Need To Know As Complaints Now Reach 2,000

Watch out, America: the FBI reports over 2,000 complaints about scam road toll texts this month, and advises against responding.

These messages, mimicking state road toll authorities, seek to obtain your financial data, such as credit or debit cards and bank accounts. These are 'smishing' scams—a phishing method that uses SMS texts to manipulate people into transferring funds or revealing confidential information.

FBI's Urgent Alert To Consumers

According to the FBI, these texts are popping up in various states, all with very similar wording, falsely stating you have an unpaid toll and could face fines or lose your driving privileges. The FBI urges anyone receiving these fraudulent texts to report them through their online crime complaint center, www.ic3.gov, and erase them immediately.

A cybersecurity firm, Palo Alto Networks, reported last week that a threat actor created over 10,000 domains for these cons. According to a report by ABC News, the cons are mimicking toll systems and parcel delivery companies in at least 10 American states and the Canadian province of Ontario.

How Scammers Evade Mobile Protections

Even though Apple blocks links in messages from unknown numbers on iPhones, these scams try to get around that by asking you to reply with 'Y' to unlock the text and bypass the security. 'They are constantly changing tactics,' said Aidan Holland, senior security researcher at threat research platform Censys.

'Apple doesn't do anything about it. ... Android will add it to their spam list so you won't get texts from the same number, but then the scammers will just change numbers,' Jon Clay, vice president of threat intelligence at Trend Micro said.

'Apple has done a wonderful job of telling everyone their phone is secure, and they are, but not from this kind of attack,' the top executive added. At the core of these scams is the exploitation of natural human tendencies.

'Scammers want people to panic, not pause, so they use fear and urgency to rush people into clicking before they spot the scam,' said Amy Bunn, online safety advocate at McAfee.Bunn points out that AI tools are fueling the rise of these scams.

AI's Growing Role In Scam Texts

'Greater access to AI tools helps cybercriminals create a higher volume of convincing text messages that trick people into sharing sensitive personal or payment information – like they'd enter when paying a toll road fine,' Bunn said.

Louisiana's Attorney General, Liz Murrill, reported receiving one of these texts, which appeared to be from the state's GeauxPass toll system.

'It is a SCAM,' Murrill posted on Facebook this week. 'If you ever receive a text that looks suspicious, be sure to never click on it. You don't want your private information stolen by scammers. It's worth noting that even states where there are no tolls are seeing more of these scam messages.

'We do not have tolls roads in Vermont but travellers may mistake these scams for actual toll operators in other states,' Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark said in a video public service announcement posted on Instagram.

Charity Clark, Vermont's Attorney General, shared in an Instagram video: 'We do not have tolls roads in Vermont but travellers may mistake these scams for actual toll operators in other states.'

Last April, the FBI warned that these texts use almost the same wording, falsely claiming you owe an unpaid toll. Some even threaten fines or license suspension if you don't pay immediately. At that point, the FBI instructed people to report the scams on their IC3 online portal and to delete the messages, according to a report by WDSU News.