Turnpike Officials Warn Of Scam Texts

December 12, 2024 4:54 am

PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Over the holidays, more than five million drivers will use Pennsylvania Turnpike, and some will likely receive a text message telling them they owe turnpike fees. While it may look legit, it’s a scam. “They went from sending it to me to now sending it to my grandmother, so now I’m like okay let me check this out,” said Aria King. King is a small business owner, and while she says she doesn’t do a lot of traveling, she began receiving this text message from a Canadian area code: “438.” The message even included a Pennsylvania Turnpike icon and suggested that she use the link provided in the message to avoid an additional $35 fee. The amount the scammers said she owed was $291. According to the PA Turnpike Commission bills are only sent via the mail. They always include either your E-Z pass account information or your plate number. FBI Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek has been cracking down on these types of scams and told us the goal of this smishing scam is to steal your info. Last year, the Internet Crime Complaint Center that the FBI runs collected more than 800,000 complaints for a total loss of more than $12 billion. Money that Rojek told said is often never recovered.