New Toll Scam Texts Aren’t Just a KY Thing and They Won’t Leave Me Alone

I don't answer phone calls from numbers that are unfamiliar to me. I don't click links in texts. I don't visit websites that are randomly recommended to me on Facebook Messenger. I'm good to go. But the scam at the heart of this story is driving me crazy, because whoever is responsible for it will not leave me alone.

Phone and Social Media Scams

The digital scam artists are now part of the "scam collective," and they are forever busy. If they're not calling, they're sending us texts with an intimidating tone or they're shoving bad links into our Facebook feeds. And we can pull our hair out about it until the cows come home, but it's clear that won't make any difference. The perpetrators have obviously found enough victims to embolden their nefarious activities.

The Unpaid Tolls Scam

Here's a text scam that I started getting at the beginning of the year, and they will not let up. First of all, I've CROSSED the Interstate 65 bridge from Louisville into Jeffersonville, so I know that I will billed through the mail for my toll. I've done it twice. So I knew immediately these were from scammers:

Let's see, we have two different sources, and one looks like a European phone number. We have one text that references FastTrak Lane tolls and another that does not. I'll say that's significant because the links are ALMOST the same. Then look at those very detailed instructions on how to visit that link. (And invite God knows what kind of computer virus into your life.)

According to USA Today, these toll scams--of which the FBI and Federal Trade Commission are well aware--have blanketed the nation, showing up on phones from sea to shining sea. And the websites are different from one text to the next. Sometimes the differences are more stark than what you see here.

The ones I've shown you are just the two I saved. There are others, and they are driving me crazy. You could say they're closing in on taking a "toll" on my sanity.