A toll text scam says you owe a small unpaid toll and that you must pay it now through a link. The amount is usually low enough to feel easier to pay than to check. The link is the valuable part for the sender, because the page behind it asks for a card number or other account details.
Search interest in this pitch has been large enough to measure. On 13 March 2025, CNBC reported that Trend Micro had seen a 900 percent increase in searches for “toll road scams” over three months, and that researchers had identified about 60,000 domains tied to these messages. Censys reported that the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center had received more than 2,000 complaints about fake toll-payment texts, covering brands such as E-ZPass, SunPass, TxTag, and Peach Pass.
How to tell a real toll bill from the text
The messages often say “final notice” and threaten a fine or a hold on your registration. They may use a state toll name that is real, which does not make the link real. Open the toll agency’s website or app by typing the address yourself, or use the bookmark you already have. Check the balance there. If nothing is owed, the text was the scam, even if the agency name was spelled correctly.
Do not tap the link to “see” the invoice. Do not reply, and do not text STOP to the sender. A reply confirms that a person reads messages on that number.
What to do if you already paid the link
Call the bank or card issuer using the number on the card or on the issuer’s website. Tell them the charge was made on a site you reached from an unexpected text, and ask them to block the card and review later charges. Scammers sometimes make a small toll charge and then try a larger one.
- Save the text, the link address, the time, and the amount.
- If you created an account on that page, change any password you reused and watch the email account for password-reset messages.
- Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and at ic3.gov.
- Forward the text to 7726.
Paying the real toll, if you owe one, is a separate step you do on the agency’s own site. It does not require the text. If a card charge was only the start and later payments moved through a crypto exchange or a bank transfer, keep those records with the original text. You can submit them on the report a scam page. Checking the transactions is not the same thing as getting the charge reversed.
If you want transaction records reviewed, the crypto recovery service page explains that review. It does not guarantee that the funds can be returned.
