The Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) has shared a warning regarding phony texts and emails designed to steal your personal information by asking customers to pay for the use of a toll road.
MDTA writes, “SCAM ALERT! Phony texts & emails are circulating claiming recipients have debt to pay for using a toll road. MARYLAND DOES NOT SEND TEXTS FOR TOLL DEBT. This is a scam seeking to obtain your credit card #’s, user names & passwords. Report these to FBI at http://ic3.gov”
The Maryland Attorney General’s Office previiuwly issued an alert to residents warning of a text scam involving unpaid E-ZPass tolls:
Attorney General Anthony G. Brown is warning consumers about scam texts falsely claiming to represent a road toll collection service asserting that you owe money for unpaid tolls. The scam text looks similar to the example displayed below:
“Maryland Toll Services: We’ve noticed an outstanding toll amount of $12.51 on your record. To avoid a late fee of $50.00, visit https://sunspasstolls.com to settle your invoice.”
Do not pay any money or reveal any personal information to any person or group that contacts you through a text about a toll debt. If you receive one of these texts, the Attorney General recommends that you:
• Do NOT click on any links in the text.
• File a complaint with the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at www.ic3.gov, and be sure to include:
– The phone number from which the text originated; and
– The website listed in the text.
• Check your account using the toll service’s legitimate website. For Maryland EZPass, this website is https://driveezmd.com/.
• Contact the toll service’s customer service phone number. Maryland E-ZPass’ customer service number is 1-888-321-6824.
• After doing the above, delete any texts like this that you receive.If you have received a text like this and paid the texter any amount of money or revealed any personal information, follow these steps:
• Contact the company that facilitated the funds transfer to see if you can stop the payment.
• Contact the Attorney General’s Identity Theft Unit to learn how to protect yourself in case the scammers try to use your personal information and how to recover if you are
impacted financially.
• Contact your local law enforcement department to report the theft.
• Report the incident to the Office of the Attorney General or the Federal Trade Commission.
