Monday, May 05, 2025 | 03:39pm
NASHVILLE—The Tennessee Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division urges Tennesseans to be aware of phishing text scams claiming that a consumer has unpaid toll road and EZ Pass balances. According to the FBI, tech scams like these cost Tennesseans more than $190 million in 2024, with seniors accounting for one-third of those losses.
“These toll scam texts are really annoying. They’re also really fake,” said Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. “We appreciate the attention brought to this scam by our law enforcement partners and the media, and advise reporting and deleting these texts as soon as they arrive.”
It is recommended that consumers who receive these texts report and delete them to protect their private financial information. Below are two examples of phishing texts consumers might receive:
On January 17, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission released the following tips on how to deal with these phishing attempts:
- Do not click on any links or respond to unexpected texts: Scammers want you to react quickly, but it’s best to stop and check it out.
- Check to see if the text is legit: Contact the state’s tolling agency using a phone number or website you know is real—not the info from the text.
- Report and delete unwanted text messages: Use your phone’s “report junk” option to report unwanted texts to your messaging app or forward them to 7726 (SPAM). Once you’ve checked it out and reported it, delete the text.
- File a complaint with the IC3, www.ic3.gov: Be sure to include the phone number from where the text originated and the website listed within the text.
###
