Illinois Tollway Issues Fraud Warning Over Phony Text Messages

We've been warned before. Several times, as a matter of fact. However, it appears that no matter how many warnings and alerts are issued, there's always going to be a segment of the population that either misses the warnings, or believes that only other people get scammed.

Just like the "Delivery Text Scam" that's been raking in cash and personal information from victims here in Illinois and throughout the entire country, the Tollway Text Scam operates under the same principles:

• Text people that they owe money for missed tolls
• Warn them of a possible arrest or fine for not paying the money they owe (and quickly)
• Give them a link to click on to make it easy for them to make things right and pay off their balance
• When the potential victim clicks on the provided link, trick them into giving out credit card numbers and other personal information--and maybe dump some malware into their phone.
• Rinse, repeat on the next victim

Nearly Everyone I've Asked Has Said That They've Gotten At Least One Of These Scam Texts That Claims To Be From The Illinois Tollway

If you've been getting texts (or, in some cases, emails) lately from something called "Illinois Tollway Services" (or sometimes just Illinois Tollway) telling you that you owe toll money, you've probably responded or thought about responding because you're a law-abiding citizen who doesn't want any trouble with the authorities.

Plus, that text looks really official with the right logo or masthead, so why wouldn't you answer and try to get your problem all straightened out? It's legit, right?

It's not legit in any way, but it works so well for the criminals employing this strategy. That's because, as I pointed out earlier, most of us are people who follow the law and do our best to stay out of any trouble that we can. Scammers love people like that because they know that many will go ahead and pay up when they think they'll have trouble with the government if they don't.

This Got Bad Enough Earlier In The Year That The Illinois Tollway Felt The Need To Issue A Warning To Illinois Residents, But It's Still Going Strongly And Claiming New Victims, So The Tollway Is Warning About It Yet Again

Here's what the Illinois Tollway has to say:

Text Phishing Scam Alert: The Tollway has been alerted to a text message phishing scam claiming that recipients owe money for unpaid tolls and detailing a specific outstanding toll amount. These are not legitimate messages from the Illinois Tollway.

If you receive a text, please check your account online here or call our customer service center at 1-800-UC-IPASS (1-800-824-7277) from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays. If you receive a phishing text, please report it to the Federal Trade Commission (https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/?orgcode=ILTWAY) and/or the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov. Both sites facilitate the sharing of information regarding Internet crimes among law enforcement agencies.

When you recognize a phishing message, do not click on any links or attachments. Delete the email message from your Inbox and then empty it from the deleted items folder to avoid accidentally accessing the websites to which it points.