Summer is peak season for road trips—and scammers know it. As more people hit the highways, criminals are ramping up efforts to target drivers with fake toll charges aimed at stealing money and personal information.   Chances are you’ve already received a message about an unpaid toll that doesn’t ring a bell. According to the FBI, the scam started gaining traction last spring and has surged in recent months.   Here’s what to know about this trending scam.

How It Works•You receive a text or email appearing to be from a legitimate highway authority or a transponder company such as E-ZPass.•The message claims you have unpaid tolls, often for a small amount.•It urges you to click a link to pay the toll, warning that you’ll incur late fees if you fail to pay quickly.

What You Should Know•These messages are designed to be realistic (based on geography, for example), and the toll amount is typically small.•The scammers hope you’ll just click and pay without looking into whether you actually have an unpaid toll.•Their goal is to steal money and payment information or to infect your device with malicious software that could lead to financial loss and identity fraud.

What You Should Do•If you get a message about unpaid tolls, do not respond or click on any links.•Instead, check your account using the state tolling agency or transponder company’s legitimate website or phone number—not information from the message.•If your smartphone has a “report junk” option, use it to flag the message for your carrier.•If you have been victimized by a toll scam, report it to local law enforcement and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, IC3.gov.

reprinted from AARP Fraud Watch Network.