Recently, the Kansas Turnpike Authority said scammers were doing their best to smish customers out of money. That effort apparently hasn’t ended.
Smishing is a text-based scam. In this case, thieves are using the name of the new KTA toll payment system, DriveKS, telling users they have outstanding balances that need payments in order to avoid more fees.
KTA says it does not send unsolicited text messages — in fact, any text messages from KTA need a DriveKS customer sign-up. KTA also does not charge fees like the ones mentioned in the scam texts and it does not send text messages requesting or demanding toll payments.
People receiving these kinds of text messages are urged not to click on the links or use any URLs included in unsolicited texts. Instead, they should go to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, ic3.gov, and file a complaint.
Toll systems across the country have been dealing with a number of smishing scams since April. The FBI has issued a public service announcement about the smishing effort.
