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Kansas Turnpike warns of ‘smishing’ scam, asks customers to report texts

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Kansas Turnpike warns of ‘smishing’ scam, asks customers to report texts

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The Kansas Turnpike Authority warned the public about a “smishing scam,” a scheme where text messages guide users to download malware or share personal information.

The text message use random numbers and claim that the recipient owes unpaid tolls to the KTA, and says if unpaid they could incur a $35 fee.

“This is a final reminder regarding the unpaid toll from your recent trip on the Kansas toll road. To avoid an additional fee of $35 please settle your outstanding balance now by visiting the link below,” the message says.

The link is to drks.org, which is made to look like a legitimate means of paying toll balances. However, a domain search shows the website’s IP address is links back to Novosibirsk, Russia, and is under an organization called Nerushenko Vyacheslav Nikolaevich.

The Kansas Turnpike last week said customers shouldn’t click or go to links provided in the message, that it doesn’t send messages to customers for toll collections, that it only sends texts about roadway incidents for people who sign up for it and that it doesn’t charge the fees listed in the message.

It also said users can file a complaint with the Federal Bureau of Investigations’ Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.

The recipients do not appear to be associated with existing toll accounts, and the smishing scam comes after the practice started growing in April, according to the FBI.

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