Michigan Leaders Warn of Latest Text Scam

Most of Michigan has likely settled in from all of their summer plans. School is back in session and the trips to other parts of the country, for most of us, will be on hold for the next few months.

But for those of us who regularly travel to other states, we often have to deal with toll roads. For example, every few months I have to drive through Louisville, Kentucky, and I make a point to avoid the toll bridge on I-65 at the state line.

But some are unavoidable, and if you pass through, the state will likely make an effort, most commonly via traditional mail, to contact you so you can pay the toll.

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Many Michiganders likely traveled to Florida for a beach trip and are now getting correspondence to pay some of the tolls they accrued while in the Sunshine State. That opens the door for a potential scam that Michigan leaders have begun to warn the public about.

According to a press release from the state, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessell is warning Michiganders to be on the lookout for smishing texts that appear to be from SunPass, a Florida-based electronic toll collection system.

The texts urge recipients to pay unpaid toll balances with a $50 late fee imposed if the balance is not settled immediately. As the Michigan AG points out, SunPass doesn't send these text messages, and all of their texts come from a specific 6-digit number.

“Scammers craft these messages with links designed to steal consumers’ personal and financial information,” Nessel said in the press release. “It’s important for residents to recognize the signs of smishing texts so they aren’t duped out of their hard-earned money.”

This scam is somewhat similar to the smishing scams affecting anyone with a cell phone that the Secret Service warned the nation about recently.

While you can ignore smishing texts, it's important to make sure to know what to look for when a text seems suspicious and what to do if you receive one.

Many smishing texts have the following traits, as described by the Michigan AG:

• Is unsolicited.
• Is sent from an unusually long phone number (10 or more digits).
• Includes a link that is likely shortened or scrambled.
• Is written with a sense of urgency.
• Contains grammatical and spelling errors.
• Promises a reward or prize if you respond or click a link.
• Requests personal or financial information.

The Michigan AG suggests forwarding smishing texts to SPAM (7726) and sending the texts to the Federal Trade Commission to report them as fraud. It's also wise to use your phone's spam-filtering features to avoid seeing the texts in the first place.