Hailey Heseltine
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Have you gotten a text or two that claims to be from SunPass recently, telling you that you have unpaid tolls? Watch out! Chances are, it's just another scam.
These smishing scam texts often claim to be from SunPass or other well-known tolling companies. They
might say that you have unpaid tolls that must be paid promptly to avoid a large late fee, followed by a link to a website that might appear to be legitimate at first glance. If you receive a similar text, never click on any link in it, even if the link contains the word “SunPass” somewhere in it. The websites these links lead to are not legitimate and are designed to steal sensitive information from you, such as credit card information, address, full name or even social security number. You should also avoid replying to these texts. Some may claim that you can text “STOP” to opt out of future notifications, but do not text anything in reply to the number. Ignore the message and delete it.
A common feature of many scams is to instill a sense of urgency, claiming that you must take action NOW to avoid a large fee, account deletion, or some other consequence. This is designed to make you panic and stop thinking clearly so you'll overlook the hints that it's a scam. As a general rule, you should be wary of any message you receive that claims you must take immediate action for anything. Always slow down and assess the situation so you can recognize the signs of a scam.
Text messages like this one are very common. Assume any text that claims to be from SunPass or any other tolling company is a smishing scam; SunPass in particular does not text customers to ask them to pay fees. If you want to check if you have any real outstanding tolls owed to SunPass, you can view your account status on their official website, sunpass.com.