This message appeared in my text messages this morning:
The Toll Roads Notice of Toll Evasion: You have an unpaid toll bill on your account. To avoid late fees, pay within 12 hours or the late fees will be increased and reported to the DMV.It's the kind of message that makes you wonder if you missed a toll payment (especially if you live in an area that has road tolls, which I do). Rather than click on the link and follow the directions in the email to make a payment--which should ALWAYS be a red flag (even if it really isn't)--I did a quick check online with the following query:
https://secure.getipassce.xin/payabill
(Please reply Y, then exit the text message and open it again to activate the link, or copy the link to your Safari browser and open it)
The Toll Roads team wishes you a great day!
Toll Roads Notice of Toll Evasion
That phrase taken from the message is specific enough to match any information online of a similar nature. Sure enough, there are reports of this item as a "smesh:" i.e., a scam text message. Some online sources addressing this had contacted their state Department of Transportation to verify if it was real or a fake, receiving confirmation it was not real.
Checking secondary sources online for evidence of a fake or scam is one method to avoid falling prey to false information.
There is at least one other clue in the message of its questionable veracity: the URL. The extension used in .xin which is Chinese. Why would someone in China be sending you a tollway notice? That and the odd directions for making a payment by copying the URL to a browser, etc. just sounds fishy.
Always double check before opening your wallet!
Posts
