The FBI has put Americans on a high report and warns them not to fall for a certain type of SCAM -SMS messages, because security experts fear that Chinese cyber criminals are behind them.
The FBI warning came last April and advised people to remove SMS messages on their mobile phones that told them they had unpaid toll.
The law enforcement agency explained that these are phishing attacks, or more precisely, spicy attacks because they are text messages instead of e -mails.
At the time, the FBI had more than 2,000 complaints about these scam reports and indicated that 'the scam may possibly go from status to situation'.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reminded Americans of the danger on January 17 and warned that the scammers behind the texts try to let you click on the link in the message so that they can steal your money and your personal information.
'Do not click on links or respond to unexpected texts. Scammers want you to respond quickly, but it is best to stop and view it, “the FTC advised.
Last month were reports from people who receive these texts from Massachusetts, California, Northern and South Carolina, Illinois, Colorado, Florida and more, Forbes reported.
Even local governments have to warn their citizens of these fake unpaid tol calculations.
Several federal agencies, together with national and local governments throughout the country, Americans have warned of Sreepsbelds -reports that told them to pay overdue toll
Shown: an example of one of this fake text that someone has posted on social media
The city of Great Falls, Montana, was just one of a number of local authorities who had to warn its citizens. Montana doesn't even have toll roads
Great Falls, Montana, a city of 60,000 people, told residents to pay attention to these types of texts on Thursday.
'A few local people recently received a text that refers to their vehicle with an' excellent toll account '. This is a scam and does not come from the city with Great Falls. Do not click on the link in the message, 'De Stad wrote in an X message.
And last week the Massachusetts Department of Transportation told the Burgers that Ezdrivema, the Tol Collector of the State, will never ask per text. “
“All links that are linked to Ezdrivema will contain www.ezdrivema.com,” said the Toll Authority.
The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority (OTA) sent similar warnings this week and urged people not to fall victim to these texts.
'You usually get some signs by reading the message alone. If it does not have the right names or the right URL, that is a dead giveaway and you have to continue and report that as a junk or spam on your phone, and certainly not click on the left, “said Lisa Shearer-Salim, the communication manager For the OTA.
Dozens of social media users have posted this problem and screenshotts of the sometimes strange formulated texts they have received.
One person was surprised at how the scammers used handshake emojis between requirements to pay their excellent toll.
Many others knew immediately that the messages were fraudulent because they do not have toll roads where they live.
According to rental cars Hertz, 18 states have no toll roads at all. This includes Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Wisconsin and Tennessee.
“This is a hilarious scam text because there are literally no toll roads near where I live,” wrote a person on X.
Another person said: 'I just got this from text via a fake -e -mail. I smile because I don't drive. '
Dozens of social media users have posted this problem and screenshotting of the sometimes strangely formulated texts they have received
Cyber's security expert Chris Krebs weighed on this growing issue and concluded that Chinese cyber criminals could remain at least some of the scam SMS messages
If you are worried that you have not accidentally paid what you owe, the advice of the FBI is to independently check your Tolenservice account and not click on links in the SMS message.
'Check your account with the legitimate website of the Tolenservice [or] Contact the telephone number of the customer service of the Tolenservice, “said the FBI.
It is not entirely clear where all these SMS messages arise, but one expert believes they are from China.
Chris Krebs, an expert in cyber protection who played a newly created role in the first Trump-Administration, wrote about the possibility in a recent blog post.
He mentioned Ford Merrill's research, which works at Secalliance, a company that protects computer systems from banks, government agencies, international organizations and infrastructure operators.
'Merrill said that the volume of SMS -Phishing attacks spoofing toll road operators shot up after the new year, when at least one Chinese cyber criminal group is known for selling advanced SMS -Phishing -kits to new phishing pages designed To spoof toll operators in various American states in various American states, “Krebs” wrote.
“According to Merrill, several cyber criminals sell different SMS-based phishing kits that each have hundreds or thousands of customers.”
The purpose of this phishing kits is to collect sufficient information from the victim, so that their payment cards can be added to mobile portfolios. The hackers can then use them to “buy goods in physical stores, online or to launder money through Shell companies.”
