New warning issued over toll fee scams

A renewed warning about toll fee scams has gone out. This time it comes from the DMVs of several US states.

May 28, 2025 - 23:40

Over a year ago the FBI warned about what was then a new form of smishing (phishing via SMS) scam: text messages that demanded payment for toll fees.

The FTC sent out a similar warning in January, 2025. Then, in April another wave of toll fee scams began doing the rounds.

Now the Departments of Motor Vehicles (DMVs) of New York, Florida, and California are warning residents not to fall for the text message scams that try to trick users into clicking a link by telling them they owe a “small amount” in toll fees.

The amount of smishing messages is a major problem. Reportedly, in April of 2025 alone, Americans received 19.2 billion automated spam texts which amounts to roughly 63 spam texts for every single person in the country.

And it seems to be paying off for the cybercriminals involved in fraud. The FTC’s 2024 Annual Data Book shows that 16% of the reported fraud attempts were text-based, with a criminal revenue of some $470 Million.

How to avoid falling for toll fee scams

Check the phone number that the text message comes from. Some of the scams we saw were easy to dismiss because they came from telephone numbers outside the US.
Look for the actual site that handles the alleged toll fees and compare the domain name. Sometimes there is only a small difference, so inspect it carefully.
If you decided to pay, make sure you receive confirmation of payment. Official toll agencies will send confirmation after collecting payments. If you don’t receive that, call the toll service to check.
Try never to interact with the scammer in any way. Every reaction provides them with information, even if it’s only that the phone number is in use.
If you think the toll fee is feasible because you have indeed travelled in that area, check on the official toll service’s website or call their customer service number.
Malwarebytes Mobile Security for Android includes a “Text Protection” feature that alerts users about potentially fraudulent or phishing text messages, helping to prevent scams and other online threats. This feature scans incoming text messages for suspicious content, such as malicious links or suspicious phrases, and warns the user to be cautious.
On Malwarebytes Mobile Security for iOS, our text filtering feature scans incoming messages for suspicious content—such as malicious links—and automatically moves them to your Junk folder before you have a chance to interact with them by mistake.
The FBI asks that if you receive a suspicious message, contact the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. Be sure to include the phone number from where the text originated, and the website listed within the text.

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