{"id":272622,"date":"2026-08-26T15:24:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T15:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/272622\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T15:24:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T15:24:08","slug":"unpaid-toll-text-scam-how-fake-e-zpass-alerts-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/272622\/","title":{"rendered":"Unpaid toll text scam: How fake E-ZPass alerts work"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/gettyimages-2290083267-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"764\" height=\"432\" loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\" data-v-653d32e2=\"\"\/> article <\/p>\n<p data-v-653d32e2=\"\">Highway toll payment sign directing drivers to E-ZPass Only lanes or toll booths accepting cash and credit card payments in Ohio, United States, on August 8, 2026. (Photo by Marcin Golba\/NurPhoto via Getty Images) <\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">PHILADELPHIA &#8211; A Pennsylvania Turnpike warning carries a broader message for E-ZPass users across the Northeast: An unexpected text claiming you owe unpaid tolls could be a scam.<\/p>\n<p>   What is the unpaid toll text scam? <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTXF\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-94395e58=\"\">What we know:<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">The scam, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.paturnpike.com\/about-us\/security-fraud\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">known as smishing<\/a>, uses fraudulent texts or similar messages that appear to come from the Pennsylvania Turnpike or another toll agency.<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">The messages may claim that the recipient has an outstanding toll balance and must pay right away. They include a link that directs the person to enter bank, credit card or other personal information.<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">The Turnpike Commission said it does not want people to click on those links.<\/p>\n<p> How to check whether you owe tolls <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTXF\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-94395e58=\"\">Dig deeper:<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">E-ZPass account holders and Toll By Plate customers can check their accounts through the official <a href=\"https:\/\/www.paturnpike.com\/e-zpass\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Pennsylvania Turnpike E-ZPass website<\/a> or the PA Toll Pay app.<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">The Federal Trade Commission advises people to contact a tolling agency using a website or phone number they already know is legitimate, rather than using contact information included in an unexpected text.<\/p>\n<p> What to do if you get a scam text <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTXF\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-94395e58=\"\">What you can do:<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">The FTC recommends these steps:<\/p>\n<p> Do not click a link or reply to an unexpected text.Use your phone\u2019s report-junk feature or forward the message to 7726, which spells SPAM.After reporting it, delete the message. <\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">People can also report the fraud to the <a href=\"https:\/\/reportfraud.ftc.gov\/?orgcode=PATPK\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">FTC<\/a> or the FBI\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ic3.gov\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Internet Crime Complaint Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"group-source-paragraph\" data-v-4fbf7207=\"\">The Source: This article was written using information from the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and the Federal Trade Commission.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox29.com\/tag\/us\/pa\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-94395e58=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Pennsylvania<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"article Highway toll payment sign directing drivers to E-ZPass Only lanes or toll booths accepting cash and credit&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272623,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[139,539,69,71,70,593],"class_list":["post-272622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-news","tag-pa","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}