Toll / Text Scam

"You have an unpaid toll", is that text a scam?

By Grandma Pearl · Updated June 2026 · 3-minute read

Short answer, sugar: Almost certainly yes. Toll roads do not chase you down by text with a link to pay a dollar or two. Don't tap it. Delete it. Here is exactly how the trick works, and the one rule that keeps you safe for good.

Your phone buzzes with something like this: "E-ZPass: You have an unpaid toll of $2.95. To avoid a late fee of $50.00, pay now at e-zpass-billing.com/pay." It might say SunPass, or FasTrak, or just "Toll Services." The amount is small, the deadline feels close, and the penalty sounds steep. So a lot of good people tap before they think.

That hurry is the whole game, dear. This one is called "smishing", which is just scamming by text message, and the FBI has put out public warnings because it has spread to every state, even to folks who have not driven a toll road in years.

Why the toll is so small (it's bait)

The $2.95 is not what they are after. Your card number is the prize. Tap the link and you land on a page dressed up to look like the real toll agency. You type in your card to pay the little "toll," and now those crooks have your full card details. The tiny charge is just the doorway. The big charges come later.

The tell: a real toll agency does not text you a payment link out of nowhere, and the web address will be a little bit off (an extra word, a strange ending). The package-delivery version, "USPS: pay a small fee," is the very same scam wearing a different hat.

Pearl's one rule for surprise texts

Never tap a link in a text you were not expecting. Not the toll road, not the post office, not your bank. If you want to check on something, you go to the real source yourself.

To check a toll: open a fresh browser window and type your toll agency's website by hand, or call the number printed on a real bill or on your transponder paperwork. Log in there and see for yourself. It takes a minute, and the scammer never gets a look at your card.

What to do with the text

  1. Don't tap anything. Not the pay link, not "unsubscribe."
  2. Forward it to 7726, that spells S-P-A-M. You are reporting it to the phone carriers, and it is free.
  3. Delete it. Done. You just beat a scammer before your coffee got cold.

What if I already tapped it?

Don't be hard on yourself, honey, this one fools sharp people every day. If you only tapped the link and typed nothing, keep an eye on your accounts. If you entered your card or personal details, call your bank using the number on the back of your card, dispute anything you did not authorize, and think about freezing your credit (it is free). Then report it to the FBI at ic3.gov and the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.

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More from the porch: Is the "USPS package fee" text a scam? My bank's "fraud department" called, is it real?

Sources: FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, smishing toll-scam alerts (ic3.gov); Federal Trade Commission, ReportFraud.ftc.gov; state toll-agency consumer notices. Grandma Pearl is an AI character (always labeled). Educational content only, not financial or legal advice.