Threat Check: all checks

Verdict · At home · Reviewed October 2026 · 3 sources

A text says I owe a toll

This is almost always a scam. Don't pay through the link; check what you owe on the toll agency's own website or app, which you look up yourself.

The next two minutes

  1. Don't tap the link or reply, not even to send STOP.

  2. Look up your toll agency's website or app yourself and check your balance there. If the real account shows nothing due, the text wasn't real.

  3. Report the text as junk in your messaging app, or forward it to 7726, then delete it.

  4. Already paid or typed a card number? Call the number on the back of your card now and ask to block the card and dispute the charge.

Who to tell

  • Your card's fraud line

    The number on the back of your card, if you paid or typed in card details.

  • ReportFraud.ftc.gov

    Tell the Federal Trade Commission. Reports shape the warnings everyone else gets.

  • ic3.gov

    The FBI's internet crime center asks for the number the text came from and the website it pointed to.

Say this

“If a text says I owe a toll, I don't tap the link. I check my balance on the agency's own site.”

One line to repeat, so the whole household (or team) answers the same way.

The step that stops the next one

Make sure it can't happen again

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Why this works

The figures behind the verdict, each with a dated source.

Reports of government imposter scams to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rose 40% in 2025, thanks in part to messages about overdue tolls.1 The texts borrow the names of real toll programs and threaten late fees or a suspended registration, so you pay before you check.1

Unpaid-toll notices were one of the five most reported text scams of 2024, a year in which people reported losing $470 million to scams that started with a text.2

In spring 2024, the FBI's internet crime center logged more than 2,000 complaints about toll texts in just over a month, and told people to check their account on the toll service's real website instead of the link.3

Why the rule holds: you never have to judge whether the text looks real. Your actual balance lives on the agency's own site, and checking there takes the same minute either way.

By the numbers

  • 40%1

    Rise in government imposter reports to the FTC in 2025, driven in part by overdue-toll texts.

    Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Consumer Advice, FTC consumer alert, May 7, 2026

  • $470 million2

    Reported lost in 2024 to scams that started with a text message.

    Federal Trade Commission (FTC), FTC Data Spotlight, April 14, 2025

Common questions

What if I really do owe a toll?

Then it will show on the toll agency's own website or app, or on a bill sent to the address on your vehicle registration. Paying there settles it. Paying through a link in a text does not.

I tapped the link but didn't type anything. Am I okay?

Most likely. Close the page and keep your phone's software up to date. If you typed a card number or any other details, follow the steps for a clicked link: call your card's fraud line and change any password you entered.

Keep going

Sources

Every figure on this page links to where it came from. We favor government, standards, and methodology-backed sources, and we take no money from anyone we cite.

  1. 1
    New trends in reports of imposter scams · Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Consumer Advice · May 7, 2026
    Government · accessed October 26, 2026
  2. 2
    Top text scams of 2024 (Consumer Protection Data Spotlight) · Federal Trade Commission (FTC) · April 14, 2025
    Government · accessed October 26, 2026
  3. 3
    Smishing Scam Regarding Debt for Road Toll Services (I-041224-PSA) · FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) · April 12, 2024
    Government · accessed October 26, 2026