PA Turnpike warns of phishing scam
Eric Krenitsky, owner of the Krendale Golf Course in Butler, was nearly the victim of a scam targeting both him and his mother.
Earlier this week, his 83-year-old mother was alerted to a text purporting to be from the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, which demanded a payment of $10.60 in unpaid toll charges to prevent the possibility of the charges increasing tenfold to $106. A few days later, Eric received the same text.
“She thought it was real, so I looked on my mobile PA Turnpike app and saw the warning,” Krenitsky said.
The warning was from the actual Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, telling Pennsylvania residents to be wary of the scam, which has been popping up more frequently over the summer.
The scam comes in the form of a text message claiming the target has outstanding toll bills which need to be paid. If the target clicks on the link included in the text, they will be taken to a webpage designed to take their personal information, money or both.
In Krenitsky’s case, the URL was “https://paturnpiketollsinvoices.com.” Since he received that text, the website in question has been taken down.
Warnings have been posted on the front of the Turnpike Commission’s website and their official app, telling potential victims to only check their state turnpike toll accounts through official sources such as the app or the EZPass website. (The Turnpike Commission operates EZPass.)
“People who receive an unsolicited text, email or similar message suggesting it is from the PA Turnpike or another toll agency should not click on the link,” the warning reads.
Krenitsky would have had reason to believe he had an unpaid toll amount, as both he and his car had been on the Turnpike in recent months.
“I was last on the Turnpike in March, but my brother, Mark, borrowed my car to drive the Turnpike in early July,” Krenitsky said.
Krenitsky and his mother are far from the only ones to receive the suspicious text. Social media is littered with warnings from dozens of other Pennsylvanians who received the same message.
One of those was the father of Krenitsky’s friend Brad Milliken of Butler, who came across the text after returning from vacation in the Outer Banks, N.C. Only Brad’s suspicion saved his father from possible identity theft.
“His father thought it was real,” Krenitsky said. “Brad … looked it up and saw the scam posted online.”
Those who have received similar text messages regarding unpaid tolls, as well as other scams, can report them to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.
