Ohio Turnpike warns of toll-collection scam

The Ohio Turnpike and other toll-road agencies in the northeastern United States are warning of fraudulent texts and emails purporting to bill motorists for unpaid tolls.

“We are receiving calls from Ohio residents across the state who have reported receiving this text scam,” Charles Cyrill, an Ohio Turnpike spokesman, said Monday. “Many are not Ohio Turnpike customers.”

A text message Mr. Cyrill provided as an example identifies the sender as Ohio Turnpike Tolls Services and advises payment of $9.75 to a bogus website “to avoid additional charges of $97.50.”

The Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission only uses paper invoices sent by the U.S. Mail to collect unpaid tolls, and sends emails only to its E-ZPass tagholders regarding account status, such as insufficient funds or a credit-card problem, the turnpike commission said in a scam warning.

Text messaging is never used to solicit payment of any kind, even from E-ZPass customers, the turnpike said. The only valid turnpike websites are ezpassoh.com and ohioturnpike.org, it said.