TOPEKA — The Kansas Department of Transportation is asking people to report scam text messages about unpaid tolls to federal authorities.
The agency renewed its warning this week about the gush of fraudulent texts that falsely claim people have unpaid tolls and will face penalties if they don’t take immediate action.
The scam known as “smishing” — a derivative of SMS, for “short message service,” and “phishing,” where a fraudster pretends to be someone else.
Some of the fake text messages requesting toll payments claim to be from KDOT, but the agency doesn’t request or collect payments via text message, and also doesn’t collect tolls. The Kansas Turnpike Authority has oversight of the turnpike tolls.
KDOT advised not to click any link in the scam texts and said anyone who has made a payment should contact their bank or credit card company immediately.
The agency asked that anyone who received a scam message report it to the Federal Trade Commission or the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.
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