'Phishing' Scam Warning Issued For Drivers Of Delaware River Bridges

LOWER MAKEFIELD TOWNSHIP, PA —The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission is warning the public about a new text message “phishing” scam that seeks to trick motorists into surrendering sensitive financial information.

The commission has received recent inquiries from drivers concerned about a proliferation of cell phone text messages demanding payment of “FastTrak Lane tolls” and threatening fines and loss of license for non-payment.

The commission warns drivers not to activate the link provided for the purported payment of the bogus toll and to delete the suspect text message.

The new “FastTrak” texts are the latest in a series of phishing scams intended to exploit unsuspecting motorists who might owe tolls to some toll agency in the United States.

Prior scams have targeted specific agencies like the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, the New Jersey Turnpike, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and the New York E-ZPass system.

The toll smishing scams have become so prevalent that it has caught the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The commission said it is particularly concerned by the timing of the latest phishing scam because the toll-bridge agency recently completed a phased-in conversion of its tolling points to cashless all-electronic toll collections involving E-ZPass (lowest rates) or TOLL BY PLATE (highest rates).

Also some non-E-ZPass-equipped motorists used the Commission’s New Hope-Lambertville (Route 202) Toll Bridge when the nearby non-toll bridge between New Hope and Lambertville was shut down for an unprecedented structural repair in mid-January.

Random, indiscriminate text messages are not a methodology the Commission or its toll-processing service provider (the New Jersey E-ZPass Customer Service Center) employ to collect tolls. Motorists who receive suspect-threatening toll-payment text messages should ask themselves: how would any toll agency obtain his or her cell phone number in the first place?

The Commission says its E-ZPass and TOLL BY PLATE customers should use approved safe methods to check accounts or mail invoices. Moreover, the Commission’s TOLL BY PLATE bills are strictly sent by U.S. Mail to registered owners of vehicles that go through tolling points without a valid E-ZPass.

The Commission recommends that any motorist who receives a suspect text message seeking payment of tolls to file a complaint online with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at: https://www.ic3.gov.

About the Commission

The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission was formed statutorily by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the State of New Jersey in 1934 and Congress ratified the arrangement under the Compact Clause of the U.S. Constitution in August 1935.

The agency operates eight toll bridges and 12 toll-supported bridges, two of which are pedestrian-only spans. The Commission is a self-supporting public-service agency that receives neither federal nor state tax dollars to finance its projects or operations.

The Commission's jurisdiction extends along the Delaware River from the Philadelphia-Bucks County line north to the New Jersey/New York border. Its bridges carried more than 133.6 million cars and trucks in 2024. For more information, please go to: www.drjtbc.org.