ORLANDO, Fla. – When News 6 Investigator Erik Sandoval received a text stating that he had used the FasTrak Express Lane, he knew right away that it was a fake.
“FasTrak is out of California, so I knew this was just bogus. But it looks real,” Sandoval explained.
The day before, News 6 producer Thomas Vielkind received a similar text and brought the text to yours truly, this one seemed to come from SunPass, complete with an official-looking logo. We quickly determined the end game would be your payment information.
Both texts are examples of what law enforcement refer to as “smishing.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) defines smishing as, “a social engineering attack using fake text messages to trick people into downloading malware, sharing sensitive information, or sending money to cybercriminals.”
Since early March 2024, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has received over 7,500 complaints reporting smishing texts that claim the recipient owes money for unpaid tolls.
Supervisory Special Agent Brian Herron with the FBI Tampa Division tells News 6 that the true number of incidents is likely much higher because not everyone files a report.
“Sometimes people are afraid to or don’t report the incident because they did not click the link,” he said.
Herron highly recommends reporting any unpaid toll texts because it helps the FBI build their investigative profiles
If you do receive one of these texts, the FBI suggested in an April news release to do the following:
- File a complaint with the IC3 at www.ic3.gov. Be sure to include:
- The phone number from where the text originated.
- The website listed within the text
- Check your account using the toll service’s legitimate website.
- Contact the toll service’s customer service phone number.
- Delete any smishing texts received.
- If you clicked any link or provided your information, take efforts to secure your personal information and financial accounts. Dispute any unfamiliar charges.
Herron says the key takeaway is to not click on any link or call any number included in any unsolicited texts, emails, or social media messages from a business or government organization.
“Go to that organization’s website and directly login to your account or contact the customer service number listed on that site to verify the information you received in that message,” Herron said.
If you encounter a scheme, or if you have an investment or consumer issue, email makeeendsmeet@wkmg.com.