Michigan consumers hit by demands to cover fake unpaid tolls in Florida, Ohio

Did you just get a text claiming that you're about to be hit with a $50 late fee for unpaid tolls in Florida if you don't pay up soon? Well, you're not the only one, according to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

The Michigan Attorney General's Office is seeing an uptick in complaints from consumers — roughly a half dozen consumers reached out about texts that impersonated SunPass, a Florida-based electronic toll collection system, over one 24-hour window, according to Danny Wimmer, Nessel's spokesperson.

In addition, he said, AG Office employees received these same sorts of texts in the last week.

But, the real SunPass is not sending out these text messages asking for money.

"Consumers are recognizing it as a smishing scam and notifying our office," Wimmer told the Detroit Free Press.

Given that Labor Day weekend travel will kick up soon, it's not a bad idea to reiterate some warnings about toll road scam texts and emails. I wrote a column back in late April warning consumers about a proliferation of these fake texts that take a toll on so many of us.

We love to drive in Michigan. And many of us will hit the Ohio Turnpike, a 241-mile toll road, as we drive off to Cleveland or drive farther out toward states along the East Coast. Or we might drive toll roads in Florida or other states.

My husband got a fake text on Monday too, but the text sent to him claimed to be from "Michigan Toll Services." And their phony records indicated that he needed to settle a past due payment for a toll of $7.59 if he wanted to avoid further tolls totaling $75.59. He killed the text, but later retrieved it for me so I could share it with you.

Alert: The bad link on the text he received said "mysunpasstollsinvoices.com."

In August, the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission alerted drivers that there's a " nationwide texting scam not related to the Ohio Turnpike."

Again, the Ohio Turnpike notes that it "does not request its customers to make payments by text.”

The only websites associated with the Ohio Turnpike’s E-ZPass accounts are ezpassoh.com and ohioturnpike.org.

Charles Cyrill, communications director for the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission, said the Ohio Turnpike is continuing to inform its customers about the ongoing toll fare text scam.

"But please keep in mind, the scammers are targeting mobile device owners everywhere, not just toll road users," Cyrill said.

So even if you didn't drive on a toll road, you could get hit with one of these texts.

Consumers are being told: "Anyone who may have clicked on a fraudulent link and provided any personally identifiable information should immediately contact their bank or credit card provider to secure their information and financial accounts."

More: No, you did not just get a real text to pay unpaid tolls. It's a scam.

More: Cash, bitcoin, gold scams in metro Detroit send couriers, directions to ATMs

A sign of some scams: The fake texts might say you owe something inconsequential, like roughly $12 in unpaid toll fees. But you're rushed into thinking that you must pay now to avoid a $50 late penalty. You might be given options to click here to quickly pay with a credit card or bank transfer.

“Scammers craft these messages with links designed to steal consumers’ personal and financial information,” Nessel said in a statement released Aug. 21.

Signs of a smishing text include: An unsolicited text, a text sent from an unusually long phone number with 10 digits or even more, and a link that is shortened or scrambled.

Like many fake emails or texts, words can be misspelled or seem out of place; you're encouraged to click a link and act quickly; and you're going to be asked to supply personal or financial information. Scammers also can spoof a real number to make it seem authentic.

Take time to do some research online to find out if a toll system has an alert out relating to potential scams. The Florida SunPass system, for example, has an "important security message" at the top of its site. If you click on that, you'll see that SunPass does not ask drivers via text to make a payment or take immediate action to settle an account. "These messages are not sent by SunPass," according to the alert.

SunPass notes: "If SunPass needs to contact its customers, it will appear as follows: Email: customerservice@sunpass.com or noreply@sunpass.com Text: 786727."

The Michigan Attorney General's Office said consumers should not reply to suspicious texts or click on any links or attachments. "Instead, they should use built-in spam-blocking tools on their mobile devices. Consumers can report smishing texts by forwarding them to SPAM (7726) and by sending the texts to the Federal Trade Commission via reportfraud.ftc.gov.

This year, all sorts of consumer watchdogs, toll road systems and law enforcement authorities are warning about an uptick in a turnpike scam. Consumers who are spotting these texts say they look fairly legitimate, somehow suggesting a new way of addressing toll charges. But it's a scam.

Contact personal finance columnist Susan Tompor: stompor@freepress.com . Follow her on X (Twitter) @ tompor .

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan consumers hit by demands to cover fake unpaid tolls in Florida, Ohio