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People are receiving scamming texts asking you to pay a KY highway toll
March 18, 2025
The texts, masquerading as messages from toll companies such as Louisville-based RiverLink, try to play on your emotions and get you to hand over your personal information, typically by referring you to a link that spoofs the legitimate company. They have been doing it via mail too.
A type of phishing scam called “smishing” (because it’s facilitated by SMS text messaging), it’s a fast-growing version of one of the internet’s oldest scams, according to Bank of America. Kentucky residents may have noticed texts claiming to be from RiverLink, E-ZPass and similar toll system companies. The scams aren’t limited to the Bluegrass State, however, as drivers in Florida and North Carolina have also received them.
RiverLink has been reported and wrote up approximately 22 times since January from people targeted by the scam about the recent smishing scams.
The number who have received or clicked links in the text is likely greater, however, given scams often go unreported.
In an August 2024 statement from RiverLink about the issue, the company noted, “RiverLink does not share toll charge notifications via text message, only low-balance and auto-replenishment reminders for customers with prepaid accounts.”
The attorney general’s Office of Senior Protection, which works to shield the elderly from fraud, holds education outreach events across Kentucky, including about these recent toll text scams, the spokesperson said. “Our Office is committed to protecting Kentucky families from scams, abuse and exploitation,” Attorney General Russell Coleman said in an emailed statement. “Thanks to thorough investigations, zealous collaboration with community partners and ongoing efforts to better educate Kentuckians against these scams, we are sending a clear message to these bad actors: ‘Kentucky is not a place to find your next victim,’” Coleman said in the statement.
To report fraud in Kentucky, you can call the attorney general’s scam hotline at 888-432-9257 or make a complaint online at ag.ky.gov/scams.
A type of phishing scam called “smishing” (because it’s facilitated by SMS text messaging), it’s a fast-growing version of one of the internet’s oldest scams, according to Bank of America. Kentucky residents may have noticed texts claiming to be from RiverLink, E-ZPass and similar toll system companies. The scams aren’t limited to the Bluegrass State, however, as drivers in Florida and North Carolina have also received them.
RiverLink has been reported and wrote up approximately 22 times since January from people targeted by the scam about the recent smishing scams.
The number who have received or clicked links in the text is likely greater, however, given scams often go unreported.
In an August 2024 statement from RiverLink about the issue, the company noted, “RiverLink does not share toll charge notifications via text message, only low-balance and auto-replenishment reminders for customers with prepaid accounts.”
The attorney general’s Office of Senior Protection, which works to shield the elderly from fraud, holds education outreach events across Kentucky, including about these recent toll text scams, the spokesperson said. “Our Office is committed to protecting Kentucky families from scams, abuse and exploitation,” Attorney General Russell Coleman said in an emailed statement. “Thanks to thorough investigations, zealous collaboration with community partners and ongoing efforts to better educate Kentuckians against these scams, we are sending a clear message to these bad actors: ‘Kentucky is not a place to find your next victim,’” Coleman said in the statement.
To report fraud in Kentucky, you can call the attorney general’s scam hotline at 888-432-9257 or make a complaint online at ag.ky.gov/scams.
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