Many commuters in the Tampa Bay area use the toll roads on a daily basis. Whether it’s the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway, the Veterans Expressway or even the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, many of us have occasion to pay tolls. The system in Florida is called SunPass, and many drivers have a SunPass transponder in the windshield of their cars.
Sometimes, a transponder may malfunction, or you changed vehicles, or the prepaid balance did not deduct. On those occasions, you may receive correspondence in the mail from SunPass with a picture of your plate and the toll amount owed.
Unfortunately, scammers are always looking for ways to make money off of others, and they are now targeting drivers for ‘unpaid toll fees.’ Although the Florida Attorney General’s Office cracked down on many of the fraudulent websites, new ones are being created by the fraudsters.
This is how the scam works: The scammers are posing as SunPass and are sending text messages to citizens. Recently, Apollo Beach resident Sierra Kahlich received one of these texts, which said, “Our records indicate that you have an unpaid toll trip. To avoid additional charges of $75.90, please settle your account at our website, _____” (scam website omitted).
Fortunately, Kahlich felt like it was a scam and did not click on the link in the text message. Instead, she contacted SunPass directly and found out that she did not have any pending toll fees.
“I had been traveling through toll roads in Tampa the month prior; however, I always had my transponder in my car,” said Kahlich. “Something appeared slightly off with the text message and I immediately Googled the SunPass number and called.”
When she called SunPass, Kahlich said she heard a recording that said SunPass is “aware of a recent phishing scam involving text messages.” The recording went on to say that SunPass is not sending out text messages about unpaid toll violations.
The Florida Attorney General’s Office and SunPass know that not everyone is as diligent to check out all the possibilities of a scam but want everyone to remain diligent. All the fake websites contain the word ‘SunPass,’ but the only legitimate website is www.sunpass.com. If you feel you have become a victim of this scam, you can report the issue to www.ic3.gov, which is the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. If you want to further inquire about any possible legitimate fines, you can call SunPass as 1-888-865-5352.
