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    That "Unpaid Toll" Text Is Almost Certainly Fake

    Texts demanding a small toll payment are one of the most common scams in the country. Here is how to verify a toll balance safely.

    4 min read6 stepsChecked Aug 2026

    A text arrives saying you have an unpaid toll — often a small amount, three or four dollars — and that a late fee will be added unless you pay today. There is a link. The message may name a real toll system such as E-ZPass, SunPass, FasTrak, or a state turnpike authority.

    1. Step 1: Do not tap the link

      Leave the text alone. Tapping the link is what starts the scam, and on some phones it also confirms to the sender that your number is active and read by a real person.

    2. Step 2: Check your balance through the real toll agency yourself

      Open your browser and type the toll authority's address directly — for example, ezpassva.com or sunpass.com — or open the app you already have installed. Sign in and look at your actual balance there.

      Quick Tip

      If you have never had a transponder or an account with that agency, and have not driven that road, there is nothing to check. It is a scam.

    3. Step 3: Look at the sender and the web address

      Scam toll texts often come from an ordinary mobile number, an overseas country code, or an email-style address. The link usually ends in something other than .gov or the agency's known address — endings like .xin, .top, or .icu are common.

      Warning

      Do not judge the message by its wording. Many of these texts are now written cleanly, with no spelling errors.

    4. Step 4: Report and delete the message

      Forward the text to 7726 (which spells SPAM), which reports it to your mobile carrier at no charge. Then report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and delete the message.

    5. Step 5: If you already entered card details, call your card issuer now

      Use the phone number on the back of the card. Ask them to cancel that card and issue a new number, and review recent charges with them. Do this even if no unauthorized charge has appeared yet — the details are often used weeks later.

    6. Step 6: Block the number

      On an iPhone, open the message, tap the sender at the top, then tap Info and Block this Caller. On an Android phone, press and hold the conversation, then choose Block. New scam texts will come from new numbers, so treat this as tidying rather than a fix.

    More about this

    These texts go out by the million to numbers chosen at random, and enough recipients have driven a toll road recently that a share of them assume it is genuine. The small dollar amount is deliberate: it is low enough that paying feels easier than checking.

    The payment page is the point of the scam. It captures your card number, and often your name, address, and phone number as well. Some versions also ask for a bank login. The few dollars are not the goal; the card details and personal information are, and they are often resold or used for larger charges weeks later.

    Real toll authorities do send notices, but they use the mail and your own online account. None of them chase a first-time toll balance by text message with a payment link. So the check is simple and costs nothing: ignore the link entirely and look up your balance the way you normally would — through the toll agency's own website or app, typed in yourself.

    If you have already tapped the link and entered a card number, the immediate step is to call the number on the back of that card and report it, then watch the statement closely.

    (Sources: Federal Trade Commission consumer alerts — consumer.ftc.gov; FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center — ic3.gov)

    Official sources

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