Unpaid toll bill, E-ZPass text scams fueled by Telegram salesmen
An onslaught of unsolicited texts to Americans’ phones in recent months claiming they owe unpaid tolls and E-ZPass bills is more than an annoyance.
An onslaught of unsolicited texts to Americans’ phones in recent months claiming they owe unpaid tolls and E-ZPass bills is more than an annoyance. It’s the end result of an elaborate online syndicate of Chinese-speaking scammers selling ready-made cybercrime kits on Telegram for stealing credit cards and personal information, experts tell NBC News.
The exact wording varies, but the scam texts generally tell the recipient that they’ve missed a toll payment and owe a small fee that may grow if it goes unpaid, and include a link to a bogus payment website.
Authorities across the U.S., including New York, Virginia, Maryland and Indiana have warned of the scam.
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center has received more than 60,000 reports of the scam, an agency spokesperson told NBC News.
No U.S. authorities have made public statements about where the scam comes from, and at least some have said they’re in the dark about their origin.
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