Rabid SMS about unpaid fees? Don’t believe it

The Illinois Tollway alerts I-Pass customers of a phishing fraud with texts with poor but fake warnings that serve to provide people to reveal personal data.

“Great -text fraud appears nationwide. Illinois’s toll road advises customers to ignore these phishing texts. These messages are not connected to the Illinois Follway or our customer data,” said agency leader on Friday.

Numerous I-Pass users received fake messages with threatening warnings such as “This is their last official announcement from I-Pass, which was operated by Illinois Farway, with regard to unpaid load associated with your vehicle.

“You have to pay the outstanding account balance by April 25, 2025 with the secure link below. The non -payment of this period can lead to serious consequences,” says the wrong text.

The authorities found the urgent tone and the demand to click on a link should be their first indication that the message is fraudulent.

The toll “never uses e -mails to apply for you to answer with your password, your social security number or your confidential personal data,” said the officials.

“Fraudsters also try to create a false feeling of urgency by implying that an immediate answer is required or that there is only a limited time to answer,” said the General Prosecutor’s Office in Illinois.

If you receive a text or e -mail that you are not sure about, try to confirm the identity of the sender. In the case of the toll text, the ID of an sender with “Mugaianot87777777777777777777777

Mautstraße also recommended that customers were affected to check their online accounts or to find customer service under (800) UC-IPASS or (800) 824-7277 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays.

Phishing texts can be reported to the Reportrad.ftc.gov website of the Federal Trade Commission or the Internet Crime Center of the FBI at www.ic3.gov.

Here are some other tips from the Illinois Attorney General.

• Never indicate your social security number or bank account and routing information unless you know who you provide you with and why. Be careful with pop-up ads or free test offerings that request your phone number.

• State and federal authorities usually do not call e -mail or text to ask for personal information or money. If it looks suspicious, inquire with the official agency.

• Do not believe any messages that insist that you have to act immediately. Take your time to check the source.

• Never open a link or attachment in an unexpected text or an e -mail from an unknown, unwanted source. Bad actors could load malware on their devices.

• Do not respond to suspicious text messages. The answer “checks a telephone number is active and willing to open such messages, which can lead to more undesirable text messages,” said the officials.