The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission is warning the public about a new text-message “phishing” scam that seeks to trick motorists into surrendering sensitive financial information.
The Commission has received recent inquiries from drivers concerned about a proliferation of cell phone text messages demanding payment of “FastTrak Lane tolls” and threatening fines and loss of license for non-payment.. (Note: FasTrak – this is the correct spelling – is the name of the electronic toll-collection service for California toll facilities. It’s similar to the much larger E-ZPass system used in the northeast, Midwest, and some Southeast states.) Here’s an image of a bogus text sent to a Commission employee’s work cell phone yesterday:
The Commission warns motorists not to activate the link provided for purported payment of the bogus toll. The Commission recommends that motorists delete the suspect text message.
The new “FastTrak” texts are the latest in a series of phishing scams intended to exploit unsuspecting motorists who might owe tolls to some toll agency in the United States. Prior scams have actually targeted specific agencies like the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, the New Jersey Turnpike, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and the New York E-ZPass system.
The toll smishing scams have become so prevalent that it has caught the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Its Internet Crime Complaint Center issued an alert about the issue on April 12, 2024: “Smishing Scam Regarding Debt for Road Toll Services.” The link to the FBI’s public service announcement is here: https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2024/PSA240412
The Commission is particularly concerned by the timing of the latest phishing scam because the toll-bridge agency recently completed a phased-in conversion of its tolling points to cashless all-electronic toll collections involving E-ZPass (lowest rates) or TOLL BY PLATE (highest rates). Also some non-E-ZPass-equipped motorists used the Commission’s New Hope-Lambertville (Route 202) Toll Bridge when the nearby non-toll bridge between New Hope and Lambertville was shut down for an unprecedented structural repair in mid-January.
Random, indiscriminate text messages are not a methodology the Commission or its toll-processing service provider (the New Jersey E-ZPass Customer Service Center) employ to collect tolls. Motorists who receive suspect threatening toll-payment text messages should ask themselves: how would any toll agency obtain his or her cell phone number in the first place?
The Commission says its E-ZPass and TOLL BY PLATE customers should use approved safe methods to check accounts or mailed invoices. Moreover, the Commission’s TOLL BY PLATE bills are strictly sent by U.S. Mail to registered owners of vehicles that go through tolling points without a valid E-ZPass.
The Commission recommends that any motorist who receives a suspect text message seeking payment of tolls to file a complaint online with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at: https://www.ic3.gov.
