A new wave of phishing attacks impersonating E-Zpass and other U.S. toll authorities is sweeping across the U.S., tricking mobile users into handing over sensitive personal information to threat actors.
Distribution
The ongoing campaign, has intensified in recent days, is targeting victims through imessage and SMS text messages. These messages claim to be from popular toll agencies like E-ZPass, The Toll Roads, FasTrak, and the Florida Turnpike, warning recipients about unpaid tolls and threatening additional fees or suspension of licesence if payment is not made immediately.
An example message reads:
“Your toll payment for E-ZPass Lane must be settled by April 4, 2025. To avoid fines and the suspension of your driving privileges, kindly pay by the due date.“
Impact
According to BleepingComputer, the messages contain links that directs users to phishing website made to mimic official toll agency sites. These phishing sites are designed to steal
- Names
- email addresses
- physical addresses
- credit card information
The phishing sites are particularly designed for mobile devices, where they are tailored to appear authentic—though notably, they do not load on desktop browsers.
Apple’s iMessage attempts to mitigate such scams by disabling links from unknown senders. But threat actors have found a way to bypass this, urging victims to reply to the message, which in turn activates the link.
The Bottom Line
This isn’t the first time the scam has appeared. The FBI previously issued a warning about the scheme in April 2024. Security experts say the messages are being sent from randomized email addresses, helping them bypass spam filters.
The scale and automation of the attack suggest that it may be linked to phishing-as-a-service operations(PhaaS), such as Lucid or Darcula. These PhaaS platforms are known for using encrypted iMessage and RCS messages to bypass spam filters.
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Source:hxxps[://]www[.]bleepingcomputer[.]com/news/security/toll-payment-text-scam-returns-in-massive-phishing-wave/
