CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — According to TxDOT, there is currently a texting scam that is targeting TxTag customers.
“I did receive that text,” Ahrielee Becerra said.
“I got it randomly. And I was like, well that’s definitely fake. I haven’t traveled recently,” Lauren Breckenridge added.
“I received one maybe a week ago,” Tristan Ruiz said.
These scam texts can vary in wording and the entities they claim to represent, but all of them say, ‘You have an unpaid toll bill on your account.’
“But the reason I was like, ‘this is a lie’ is because I don’t have a car under my name,” Becerra explained.
Grace Cunningham, who road-tripped with her family to California, was alarmed when she got the text saying she owed a toll in that state.
“The only way we could tell that it was not real was that we don’t take my car. And so it wouldn’t have came to my phone number,” Cunningham said.
According to Adam Hammons, TxDOT Media Relations Director, these texts have ramped up in the last few days.
“You’ll get a text saying you need to respond to this urgently… click on this link. If you get something like that, that is not TxTag,” Hammons said.
In fact, Hammons emphasized that TxTag will never text you about payment reminders or past-due payments.
Another red flag? Some scam texts come from non-U.S. area codes or even iCloud email addresses. KRIS6 News personally received a text from an international number, and another from an iCloud address.
“It can be easy to fall for it, to click on the link because it makes it very urgent sounding,” Hammons said.
Hammons stressed the importance of not clicking any links or replying to these messages. While this is a nationwide issue, he said Texans are being specifically targeted.
“So that’s why we want to make sure people are aware of it and staying vigilant and watching out for these scams,” Hammons added.
TxDOT said the only number they would text you from is 22498. If you receive a text about toll payments from any other number, it’s a scam.
For more information or where you can report these messages click here.
