Most people immediately freak out at the amount of the late fee and head straight to their wallet or purse to make the payment to stop the threat of higher and higher late fees. But paying the first $55-$70 is the least of your problems if you don’t delete these texts right away as authorities recommend. If you make the tragic decision to pay the toll, you’ll be asked to tap on a link to access a payments page.

On this page, you will type in credit card info and other personal information including passwords and social security numbers. Many people will fill out this data and send it to the scammers because these guys have become so adept at knowing what to write to get you to respond immediately providing them with all of the information they need to access your personal accounts and wipe you out. 

The number of unpaid toll-fee scam texts sent has been rising since the start of 2025. | Image credit-Guardio

Cops say that iPhone and Android users should delete and report every text received. That probably doesn’t account for texts from friends, family, and people you know, but you should never tap on a link to give up personal data including birthdays, account numbers, passwords, stock holdings and information about your phone including its unique IMEI number. Most companies will not send you a text requesting your personal information.