Have you been harassed by scammers trying to trick you into paying “overdue toll fees” for your SunPass or handing over your personal information?
Hopefully, that may calm down for at least a little while. The Florida Attorney General’s Office announced Monday that hundreds of fraudulent SunPass websites have been shut down, in collaboration with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Cyber Fraud Analytical Support Team.
“These fraudulent SunPass websites preyed on unsuspecting Floridians and tourists, trying to steal personal information through fake billing notices,” said Acting Attorney General John Guard. “We are taking swift action to shut down these sites and protect consumers. Floridians need to be cautious when receiving texts or emails claiming they owe money for tolls as it could be a scam.”
The AG office also released a new consumer protection section on its website, “Scams at a Glance,” to help Florida residents identify innocent-seeming attempts for common scams.
The toll pass scam has been seen elsewhere, but Florida, which has more toll roads of any state in the country, is particularly susceptible.
SunPass may contact customers by text but it will never ask for money, the company said.
Last year the number of scams was bad enough that SunPass added a message to its website: “SunPass does not ask customers via text to make a payment or to take immediate action on their account.”
Legitimate messages from SunPass will always come from [email protected] or [email protected], or will be texted from 786727.
In the scam, Florida residents received text messages notifying them about an outstanding charge on their SunPass toll road payments.
“We’ve noticed an outstanding toll amount of $12.51 in your record,” a sample text said. “To avoid a late fee of $50.00, visit https://sunpasstollsservices.com to settle your balance.”
Other texts used different amounts, or omitted them entirely, but all of them stress the dangers of ignoring the text to create a sense of urgency.
“Once on the fraudulent website, victims are asked to provide personal and financial information that can be used by the scammers to commit identity theft or fraud,” the Attorney General’s Office said.
This scam is called “smishing,” and this version of the SMS scam is a new one that the FBI issued a warning about last April. The Federal Trade Commission issued a new warning about it in January.
According to the FBI, “smishing” is a “social engineering attack using fake text messages to trick people into downloading malware, sharing sensitive information, or sending money to cybercriminals.”
“Smishing” is a combination of “SMS” (“short message service,” or what everyone just calls texts now) and “phishing.” “Phishing” is a more general term for sending fake messages to try and get you to reveal personal information like credit card numbers or passwords.
By April 12, the FBI received over 2,000 complaints from at least three states reporting smishing texts pretending to be road toll services.
SunPass and E-ZPass do not send texts about unpaid fees. If you receive a suspicious text:
To report suspicious activity related to SunPass or E-ZPass, Floridians can file complaints at FDLE’s Report a Cybercrime webpage or call (866) 9NO-SCAM. You also can file a complaint with the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, www.ic3.gov

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