Scam text messages impersonating the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and toll authorities are on the rise, despite the fact Wisconsin does not have toll roads.
The texts claim you have unpaid tolls and threaten extra fees and fines if not paid promptly. They include links to pay the fees and can also list a phone number to call.
Courtney Anclam, senior program specialist for AARP Wisconsin, said she's received about 10 of the texts in the past month. She noted they originally appeared to be from numbers in states like Connecticut or New York but are now mimicking the Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles, showing an increased level of sophistication.
"They're harvesting credit card information and then using your credit card to go buy whatever other things they want," Anclam explained. "It's really important to not click on any of the links, don't call any of the phone numbers. Doesn't matter how official it looks."
Anclam added even though Wisconsin does not have toll roads, neighboring states like Illinois do. Anyone with concerns about being scammed can reach out to the Wisconsin DMV or Illinois toll services directly.
Anclam recently started including toll text scams in her outreach presentations across the state, pointing out most people in the audience have received them. She added while most of them delete, ignore, or mark the messages as spam, they often don't report them to official agencies like the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
"There might not be a huge number indicating that we've gotten thousands of reports," Anclam acknowledged. "But we know that thousands of these text messages are being sent because people are telling us, I got two of these, I got five of these, whatever it may be."
Anclam stressed the need to continue discussing the scams to raise awareness, saying they have grown more believable and intimidating.
"I think there's a common misconception that older people are more likely to be the victim of a scam, which is not true when we look at data from the Federal Trade Commission," Anclam observed. "Actually, younger people are reporting losing money to fraud more often than older people."
DATCP said they are receiving many more inquiries and complaints about scam text messages and encouraged anyone who receives one to report it.
