TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on Apr 28, 2025

The FBI is warning Tennesseans to be on high alert for a wave of fraudulent text messages posing as toll collection agencies like E-ZPass, despite Tennessee having no toll roads. These "smishing" scams, which combine phishing tactics with SMS texting, are convincing enough that even savvy residents — including journalists — have admitted to second-guessing their legitimacy, News Channel 5 reports. Many of the scam messages originate from international numbers and threaten penalties for unpaid tolls. With Tennessee’s Department of Transportation preparing to roll out its first optional toll lanes on I-24, officials emphasize that they do not request payments via text. In 2024, tech scams cost Tennesseans more than $190 million, with seniors accounting for one-third of those losses, according to the FBI. A similar warning was issued by the Tennessee Attorney General's Office on May 5.