Warning, scam! New Yorkers inundated with text messages demanding unpaid fares

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Several Staten Island residents recently reported receiving daily calls with a series of text messages that appear to alert them to allegedly unpaid E-ZPass tolls.

Last week, the New York State Thruway Authority took to social media to warn New Yorkers about a scam targeting E-ZPass customers in which scammers pretend to collect tolls through text messages containing a link. to a fake website designed to trick drivers into entering their bank or credit card information.

The scam, which officials call “smishing,” is the illegal practice of sending fraudulent SMS text messages with links to websites that appear to be legitimate. In these cases, the fake text messages contain a link to nytollservices.com, which the New York State Thruway Authority says is not affiliated with the official Tolls By Mail NY service, and may ask you to “make arrangements to pay off your outstanding balance.”

In such cases, the text appears to be coming from E-ZPass. It prompts the user to update their profile and provides a link to the website. The link may contain the bank name as part of the domain. If a mobile phone user clicks on the URL, they will be taken to a form similar to part of a bank’s website. The page will ask the person to verify their identity by entering a name, user ID, password and/or bank account number.

A statement on the E-ZPass website states that E-ZPass NY will never email or contact you asking for sensitive personal information such as your credit card number, social security number, usernames or passwords. If you are contacted by someone claiming to be from E-ZPass and seeking personal information, you should not provide the requested information and call 1-800-333-8655 (TOLL) to report that someone is with you. then contacted. trying to get personal information or asking the caller/email sender to provide their contact information so you can call them back.

Constant worry about fraud

“Fraudsters and their nefarious schemes appear to be everywhere today,” District Attorney Michael E. McMahon said in September of an incident in which a Staten Island woman gave $35,000 in cash to a man who tricked her into believing her bank account was compromised and her funds needed to be placed in a secure account.

McMahon estimates his office receives at least 20 cases each week from residents who claim they have been victims of some form of financial fraud, deception method or cyber-related crime.

Earlier this month, Advance/SILive.com reported rampant theft of tax and Social Security checks sent through the U.S. Postal Service.

Phishing attempts to test washing machines have turned federal benefit check theft into a multimillion-dollar criminal enterprise. “We’ve had cases where people were given the same Treasury check five times and it was stolen each time,” McMahon explained.

Last month, the NYPD warned residents about a scam involving fake calls to law enforcement about bail, arrest warrants or requests for donations to a bogus police charity.

“The police will never contact you and ask for money,” police said. “This is not a cop, this is a scam!”

Scammers may also manipulate caller ID to make calls appear to be from law enforcement, police said. Caller ID may also include your name or a family member’s name to appear legitimate, police warn.

NYPD Assistant Chief Joseph Gulotta said at the time that phone and Internet scams targeting seniors cost Staten Island victims more than $2.6 million in 2023 alone.