- One scam victim shared her experience being scammed by a text asking her to pay a toll.
- That type of scam was discussed at AARP Utah's Scam Jam event which helps spread awareness of common scams.
- The speakers at the event shared that prevention is more important than prosecution when it comes to scams.
Last fall, Sandy Hunter drove across the country with her husband, encountering multiple toll roads along the way.
Because of the trip, she was expecting to get notices in the mail to pay the tolls. In January, she hadn’t received notices about all her tolls yet, so when she received a text telling her she had a toll to pay she wasn’t surprised.
“I was in a hurry. I wasn’t at home, and I just wanted to get it. I wanted to get it off my mind and take care of it. So I followed the instructions on the text and paid the toll,” Hunter said.
Within hours she had received notice from her credit union asking her about two purchases made in California totaling $300. Hunter had not made these purchases; she had been scammed.
“I guess I’m kind of embarrassed to say I got scammed by a text, because I actually, even at my age, feel that I am pretty tech savvy and computer literate,” Hunter said.
Hunter, a volunteer with AARP Utah, shared her experience at the organization’s Scam Jam event which in partnership with the FBI was meant to spread awareness of common scams in Utah.
The event was held at Salt Lake Community College’s Karen Gail Miller Conference Center and the room was packed with around 180 people anxious to learn about scams. All the seats were full and some people were standing in the back or sitting just outside the doors in the hallway.
One attendee, Julie Clay, said she attended the event because “I just don’t want to be scammed.”
Toll scams
Texted toll scams like the one Hunter was a victim of are very common right now, according to, Michael Montoya a supervisory special agent over financial crimes with the FBI who spoke at Scam Jam.
Montoya said that when most people receive a text asking them to pay a toll, especially in Utah where there aren’t very many tolls, they logically know that it doesn’t make sense.
But, he added, there is an emotional piece that can get people.
They think “Hey, if you don’t pay this, you know you’re going to have some issue with your driver’s license,” and that worry can cause them to fall for the scam.
“Every time I get one of those, I know that it’s a scam, but I still, my heart rate jumps and I worry a lot,” said Clay about the toll texts.
Hunter shared a few things she learned from her own experience.
The first thing Hunter realized was that because she was in a rush and did it on her phone she didn’t fully look at the website and notice the red flags. She said if she had waited to get home and had done it on her computer she probably wouldn’t have fallen for the scam.
As she worked through the issue with her credit union, Hunter learned that she shouldn’t be using her debit card as much. When someone puts in their pin, it’s like giving away their signature, she said.
“The credit union lady, told me, ‘Don’t use your debit card.’ Get a credit card and always use your stuff with credit cards, because if you have a dispute on a credit card, it’s a lot easier to resolve than from a debit card,” Hunter said.
The last thing Hunter shared was to pay attention to the number the text is coming from. Looking at the country code and area code can help people realize that the text is not coming from the place where it says the toll is.
For example, the scam text Hunter fell for had a number that was from the Philippines.
“The Massachusetts toll system is not going to be using a Philippines number,” Hunter said.
Other helpful tips shared at Scam Jam
Matt Gephart with KSL-TV participated on Scam Jam’s panel and was asked what is more important, prevention or prosecution?
He said prevention is more important because “Once it’s gone, it’s so much harder to get back.”
Here are some tips for scam prevention shared at Scam Jam.
It is important to pay attention to email addresses, as phishing or scam emails often will come from emails with small typos such as “.guv” instead of “.gov”
One other thing that was emphasized is that people should always report their scams as soon as possible. Many people don’t because they are embarrassed to admit they’ve been scammed
“What I’m saying to you is to not be embarrassed to talk to your best friend. Do not be embarrassed to call the division. The faster you call us, the faster we can act,” said the director of Utah’s Division of Consumer Protection.
Time is of the essence when it comes to scams and getting people’s money back.
Montoya also shared multiple resources people can use
- IC3.gov — The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center where people can report scams and it also has other helpful resources.
- DOJ’s Elder Justice Initiative’s National Elder Fraud Hotline — 833-372-8311
- VirusTotal — If someone has a website they’re concerned about they can plug it into this website and it will tell them how vulnerable it is.
- AARP’s Fraud Watch Network — The network is meant to empower to people to avoid scams but it is also there to support them if they become a victim.