Many local consumers have received a text message saying that they have an unpaid road toll or that they have a package that couldn’t be delivered because their address “wasn’t verified”. The FBI warns these messages are false and are a part of what is called a “smishing” scam. The scammer wants their victim to reveal personal information such as social security numbers and bank account information.

The sender will claim in a text message that if you don’t “pay the fine immediately” or “verify” your information you will be subject to a penalty and possible legal action.

The FBI asks that if you receive one of these text messages do not click on it, report it to ic3 immediately and delete it from your phone. This scam is nationwide and moves from state to state using almost the exact same language in both types of text messages.

Apple banned the sending of links in iPhone messages from people who are not in your contacts; however the scammer will try to bypass that by inviting intended victim to reply with “Y” and reopen the text.