I literally, unknowingly, watched this unfold with my dad recently. He got a text along the lines of “final notice of unpaid toll from [local toll road entity], pay by end of day to avoid late payment fees” with a link.
He (on the side, while we were all doing something else) went in, entered his drivers license info, date of birth, and credit card number to “pay” the toll.
About 30 second after setting his phone down he just goes “shit, that was a scam, wasn’t it” and describes the text to us.
A little bit too much trust, and a false deadline can go a long way.
They use threats and urgency to pressure people into paying faster that they realise it’s a scam.
I literally, unknowingly, watched this unfold with my dad recently. He got a text along the lines of “final notice of unpaid toll from [local toll road entity], pay by end of day to avoid late payment fees” with a link.
He (on the side, while we were all doing something else) went in, entered his drivers license info, date of birth, and credit card number to “pay” the toll.
About 30 second after setting his phone down he just goes “shit, that was a scam, wasn’t it” and describes the text to us.
A little bit too much trust, and a false deadline can go a long way.
It’s an old trick but if it’s the last moment you learn about a fine first, then chances are someone isn’t playing fair, regardless.