The attorney general is warning Illinois residents about a scam involving unsolicited text messages targeting I-PASS customers into sharing personal and financial information.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on Friday said in a statement that his office has taken reports from consumers who received scam text messages.
The messages claim the recipients owe money to the Illinois Tollway for unpaid tolls.
The unsolicited text messages are intended to trick consumers into sharing personal and financial information.
Raoul said he encourages consumers to report the scam messages to his office.
“Smishing,” or Short Message Service (SMS) phishing, is when a scammer sends a deceptive text message to trick a cell phone user into revealing personal or confidential information.
Smishing messages may contain links to harmful software that could enable scammers to steal information from your phone or computer.
Raoul’s office said consumers should not click any links in an unsolicited email or text.
“Consumers should always be suspicious of unsolicited emails and text messages asking for personal or financial information,” Raoul said.
“To keep you and your family safe from scammers, never click on a link from an unsolicited text or email, and if you think a message is suspicious, contact the business or agency in question using contact information from its official website,” he said.