Got a text about an unpaid toll? Here's what it is.
ScamChecker.online·Last verified May 2026·Active and widespread·5 min read
In a nutshell
A text says you owe a small unpaid toll, often around $12, with a link to "pay now" and a late-fee threat.
It's a scam. Real toll agencies don't text you a link to collect payment.
The tiny amount is bait. The real goal is your card number and personal details, entered on a fake copy of the toll website.
Don't click the link. If you already entered card or personal info, follow the steps below right away.
Our verdict
This is a smishing scam. The toll is almost always fake, and the page behind the link is built to steal your card and identity. Paying the small "toll" hands your card details straight to the scammer, and entering personal information opens the door to identity theft.
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Does this sound familiar?
You got a text out of nowhere saying you owe a small toll, maybe $6 or $12. It names a toll service you might actually use, warns of a late fee or a registration hold, and gives you a link to pay before a deadline. It feels urgent, the amount feels too small to argue with, and the link looks official. That's exactly how it's designed.
Below are reconstructed examples of the messages people receive, recreated to show how they typically look on your phone. The toll service names are real services that scammers impersonate. Those agencies do not send these texts. (Illustrations, not real screenshots. Links and numbers are fictional.)
?
Unknown
+1 (555) 555-0162
Text Message · Today 8:41 AM
E-ZPass: We've recorded an outstanding toll of $12.51 on your account. To avoid a $50.00 late fee, settle your balance today at ezpass-tollpay.vip/us
A small balance paired with a much larger late fee. The gap is the pressure: easier to just pay than to check.
?
Unknown
+63 905 ••• ••••
Text Message · Today 1:17 PM
FasTrak Notice: your toll invoice #4471 is past due. Pay within 24 hours to avoid penalties: bit.ly/ft-pay93
A foreign or odd-looking number and a shortened link that hides where it really goes. Both are common tells.
?
Unknown
+1 (555) 555-0184
Text Message · Today 6:03 PM
SunPass Final Notice: unpaid toll on record. Failure to pay may lead to vehicle registration suspension and added fees. Resolve now: sunpass-gov-pay.top
The threat of registration suspension is meant to make you panic. The link domain isn't the agency's real site.
The toll service name changes by region, and so does the wording, but the structure stays the same: a small "toll," a deadline, a threat, and a link to a page that asks for your card.
How it works
This scam is fast. There's no recruiter and no slow build. From text to stolen card details can take under a minute, which is why the urgency matters so much to the people running it. (The screens below are illustrations of how these pages typically appear.)
1
The text lands
You get an unexpected text naming a toll service, claiming a small unpaid balance with a deadline and a link. Numbers are blasted out at random, so it doesn't matter whether you've ever used that toll road. Many people have, which is enough to make it land.
‹
?
Unknown sender
+1 (555) 555-0162
E-ZPass: outstanding toll of $12.51 on your account. Avoid a $50 late fee, pay at ezpass-tollpay.vip
8:41 AM
Arrives via
SMSiMessageRCS
2
A convincing fake page
The link opens a near-perfect copy of the toll agency's payment page, with the right logo and colors. The web address gives it away: an odd domain ending like .vip or .top, extra hyphens, or a link shortener hiding the real destination.
⚠ Not secureezpass-tollpay.vip
FAKE
EE-ZPass
Online Toll Payment
Amount due
$12.51
+ $50.00 late fee if unpaid today
Pay Now →
The page is fake even when it looks perfect. Check the web address, not the logo.
3
You hand over card and details
To "pay the toll," the page asks for your card number, expiry, and security code, often alongside your name, address, and phone. Everything you type goes straight to the scammer. The $12 charge is the least of it.
🔒 Secure Payment
Card number
•••• •••• •••• ••••
Expiry
MM / YY
CVC
•••
Name & billing address
Full name, address
Everything entered here is captured. The "toll" is just cover for stealing your card and identity.
4
The real damage
Your card may see test charges and then larger ones. Your details get sold or reused for further fraud and identity theft. And because you responded once, your number gets flagged as a live target, so more scam texts follow.
Charges you didn't make…
↓
"Toll payment"−$12.51
↓
Online retailer−$1.00
↓
Gift card reload−$249.00
↓
Unknown merchant−$480.00
Your details, resold
Name, address, phone, and card data are packaged and sold on, fuelling identity theft well after the first charge.
More texts arrive
"USPS: your package is on hold, confirm your address…"
"DMV Final Notice: outstanding violation, pay now…"
One response marks you as a live target. The same operations run delivery and DMV texts too.
Remember
Toll agencies don't text you a link to pay.
A tiny amount plus a big late fee is the bait.
Never pay or "verify" through a link in a text.
Unsure? Go to the real toll site yourself, or call the number on your statement.
Red flags to catch it early
None of these alone is proof. Several together means stop.
An unexpected toll text with a link
Toll agencies collect overdue tolls by mail to your registered address, not by texting you a payment link.4
A small balance with an urgent threat
A few dollars owed, plus a late fee, a deadline, or a warning about your license or registration. The pressure is the point.
"Pay $12.51 today to avoid a $50 late fee."
A generic greeting
"Dear customer" or "Toll user" instead of your name. Real toll accounts know who you are.4
A link that isn't the agency's real site
Odd endings like .vip, .top, or .xin, extra hyphens, a misspelled agency name, or a shortener like bit.ly hiding the real destination.5
A foreign or odd-length sender
The message comes from an international number, an email address, or a number with the wrong number of digits for your country.
It wants you to reply or click to "verify"
Asking you to reply Y, tap a button, or click to "restore" or "verify" your account. Any response confirms your number is active.4
Think you might actually owe a toll?
Cashless tolling is everywhere now, so a real unpaid toll is possible. Here's how to check without touching the text:
Don't use the link or number in the message. Treat both as fake.
Open the toll agency's real website yourself, by typing it in or searching for it, and log in to your account there.
Or call the number on your transponder, your account statement, or the back of your toll device.
If you do owe something, you can pay it safely through the real account. If you don't, you've lost nothing.
Already clicked or entered your details?
If you've already interacted with one
How bad it is depends on how far you got
Work through whichever applies to you. Sooner is better, especially with card details.
1
You only received it, or clicked but entered nothingLow risk. Don't reply, don't tap any link. Delete it, and report it (see below). If you're on a phone, avoid downloading anything the page tries to push.
2
You entered your card detailsContact your bank or card issuer now. Report the card as compromised, ask them to block it and watch for fraud, and request a replacement. Dispute any charge you didn't make, including small "test" charges.
3
You shared personal informationIf you gave a name, address, date of birth, or similar, treat it as exposed. Consider a credit freeze and identity-theft monitoring. In the US, IdentityTheft.gov builds you a step-by-step recovery plan.
4
You reused that password anywhereIf the fake page asked you to "log in" and you used a password you use elsewhere, change it on every site that shares it, and turn on two-factor authentication where you can.
5
Report it and delete itForward the text to 7726 (spells SPAM) to flag the number with your carrier, report it to the authority for your country below, then delete the message. Reports help track the operations behind this.
6
Ignore anyone who later offers to "get your money back"If you lost money, expect a follow-up from someone promising to recover it for a fee. That's a money recovery scam, a second fraud aimed at people who've already been hit. No legitimate service charges an upfront fee to recover funds.
Forward the text to 7726 (SPAM) to report the number to your carrier. If you think you may owe a real toll, log in to your toll account directly, never through the text.
If you entered card details, contact your bank straight away. UK banks have strong reimbursement rules for authorised push payment fraud under the 2024 rules.
Not sure where to report? Search "[your country] report scam text" or "[your country] report fraud," and contact your bank directly if you entered any card details.
How big is this problem?
Toll smishing barely existed before 2024. It emerged that spring and scaled into one of the most reported text scams in the country within months, and it has kept mutating since.
60,000+
Complaints to the FBI's IC3 about unpaid-toll texts in 20242
2,000+
Complaints in roughly the first month after the scam emerged, across at least three states1
+40%
Rise in government-imposter scam reports to the FTC in 2025, driven partly by overdue-toll texts3
~$12
Typical "toll" shown, kept small so it feels too trivial to question1
The first FBI alert, in April 2024, described texts using nearly identical wording and a small "outstanding toll amount" like $12.51, with a late-fee threat and a link impersonating the local toll service.1 By the end of the year the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center had logged tens of thousands of these complaints, and the texts had spread state to state across the country.2 The scam works because cashless tolling is now normal: plenty of people genuinely use E-ZPass, SunPass, FasTrak, or similar, and can't easily recall every toll they've passed through.
The texts are sent at enormous scale by organised operations, often from international numbers, using ready-made phishing kits. Security researchers note the same infrastructure churns out fake delivery, DMV, and unpaid-bill texts, swapping the disguise while keeping the mechanics.5 The fake sites frequently use link shorteners and unusual domain endings to look plausible at a glance.5
The small dollar figure is deliberate. It's low enough that paying feels easier than checking, which is exactly the reaction the scam needs. But the toll is rarely the real prize. The card number and personal details you enter are worth far more, resold or reused for fraud and identity theft long after the first charge clears.
Sources
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), "Smishing Scam Regarding Debt for Road Toll Services" (Public Service Announcement, April 2024). Source of the early complaint count, sample text and amount, and what-to-do guidance.
FBI / IC3 2024 figures, as reported to the press in early 2025 (e.g. CNBC); New Jersey Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Cell (NJCCIC) cites a precise figure of 59,271 toll-scam complaints in 2024. Full-year complaint volume.
We document recurring online scam patterns using primary sources: government agencies, law enforcement, and security researchers. The toll services named here are legitimate businesses being impersonated, not the source of these texts. Ads on this page do not influence our reporting. Read about how we research or who we are.
Last verified: May 2026·Reviewed against current FBI, FCC, and FTC guidance