scam of the week · February 3, 2027
Scam of the Week: the unpaid toll text
The action:Turn on Filter Unknown Senders (iPhone) or Spam protection in Messages (Android), then forward the text to 7726.
The toll text that hit millions of phones this month: what it looks like, why the amount is small, where the link really goes, and the one phone setting that disables it. Replace youtubeId with the real video ID when published.
The brief that goes with the video
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Transcript
Placeholder transcript. Replace with the full transcript when the video is published.
“Your vehicle has an unpaid toll of six dollars and ninety-nine cents.” Sound familiar? It is not FasTrak. It is not E-ZPass. Toll agencies bill you by mail. The link goes to a copy of their website that wants your card number. Delete it, forward it to 7726, and if you want to know whether you owe a toll, open the real app yourself.
Related
The guide
Lock down your iPhoneYour phone is your bank, your email, your photos and your two-factor codes. A stolen passcode is a stolen life.
The scam
The unpaid toll text scamThe unpaid toll text scam is a text message claiming you owe a small toll balance and must pay through a link today to avoid a late fee; the link leads to a fake toll-agency page that takes your card number and personal details.