Are you a lucky winner of a gift card? Maybe you have a surprise IRS refund waiting, or you need to click a link to verify your bank account. You might even owe toll charges from a state where you've never driven the highways.
Those scenarios are some of the most common pretexts used in spam texts, or "smishing," the use of SMS texts by scammers attempting to compromise data and pilfer money. And if you think the problem is getting worse, you're not wrong.
Americans received 19.2 billion spam texts in February — a sharp rise from last fall, according to Robokiller, a spam-blocking company. Another spam-blocker firm, Truecaller, said last year that 86% of Americans surveyed, reported receiving spam texts.
"Got a text about unpaid tolls? It's probably a scam," the Federal Trade Commission said in a January consumer alert, warning of a widening ploy.
Why am I getting texts about unpaid tolls?
Smishing rose by 22% in the third quarter of 2024, according to the Anti-Phishing Working Group, an international nonprofit. It added that scammers were impersonating entities that weren't previously frequent targets, from gas and electric companies to municipal ticket payment agencies.
Another spike occurred at the start of 2025, Teresa Murray, director of the consumer watchdog program at U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) tells NPR. She says it's a reminder that scammers adapt their tactics to take advantage of events and profit from moments of confusion.
"New York City's congestion pricing on certain roads started on January 5. Within a few days, drivers were getting scam texts about unpaid tolls," Murray says. "We've since seen those types of scary notices about unpaid tolls sent by text to drivers in many states."
Similar ploys are aimed at families that might be on long road trips during spring break or a summer vacation, Murray says.
Smishing texts also erupted last spring, with messages seeking payment of an "outstanding toll amount," the FBI said.
"In some cases, the texts are trying to get people to provide payment information," Murray adds. "In other cases, the texts aim to get people to open links with viruses."
How can I keep scammers off my phone?
First, you should register your phone on the National Do Not Call Registry. You can also ask your phone company for help, although a recent PIRG analysis found that their abilities vary widely.
You should also be skeptical of any texts, calls or emails requesting your username or password. Examine (but do NOT click on) any URL or email address with typos or other differences from the websites you would normally use to deal with a company.
Experts say you should never click on links in an unsolicited text, even if it's portrayed as a way to "opt out" of future messages.
"Often, URLs in spam texts contain malware that can infiltrate your phone when you click them," according to Robokiller.
If you're uncertain whether a message might be authentic, the FBI says, "Look up the company's phone number on your own (don't use the one a potential scammer is providing), and call the company to ask if the request is legitimate."
There are also several ways to report fraud attempts, including filing a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
"Use your phone's 'report junk' option to report unwanted texts to your messaging app," the Federal Trade Commission says, "or forward them to 7726 (SPAM)."
After reporting them, you should delete any smishing texts. For more tips, see the Federal Communications Commission's advice for reporting and blocking unwanted calls and texts.
Most scam texts likely come from crime rings, Murray says, noting that they're able to generate massive numbers of bogus text messages in hours.
"The bad guys have to move quickly because the phone numbers often get blocked at the network level once there are enough complaints," she adds.
Phone scams target a wide range of ages
While older adults are often viewed as having more problems navigating the digital world, a report from Truecaller found that younger adults are far more likely to fall prey to a phone scam.
Older people have long been a main target of phone scams, according to the recent Truecaller Insights report. But scammers have increasingly gone after younger people, with success.
People between 18 and 44 years old were "thrice as likely to be successfully targeted compared to older adults (55+ yrs)," the report states, adding that a quarter of that cohort reported being victimized more than once.
As for why older adults might be more resistant to scams, the report says 75% of people age 65 and older simply don't answer calls or texts from an unknown source. The older group is also nearly twice as likely to be registered with the National Do Not Call Registry or similar services.
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