If you spent any time traveling Maine's Turnpike during this long holiday weekend, the folks in charge of those roads want you to know one thing: They will never text you a bill if you owe them money.

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vitpho
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This comes on the heals of a recent trend of folks getting texts, pretending to be from the MTA, stating that they owe the agency money and need to pay up.

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It's gotten so bad that the Maine Turnpike Authority is trying make sure people know NOT to pay these scammers, and are working to get the word out about this scam. In fact, so many people received these texts, and called in to double-check what was going on, that it increased the time people were waiting to connect with an operator to over an hour. So they released this statement recently via the MTA's Facebook Page.

Text message SMS scam or phishing concept. Man hands using smart phone
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"Our E-ZPASS Customer Service Representatives are still hearing about Mainers receiving text messages saying they owe tolls....The scam involves fraudulent text messages resembling MTA’s website, which falsely claim there is an unpaid toll and threaten an additional fee if the balance is not settled immediately.

Maine Turnpike Authority Scam Text, Maine Turnpike Authority via Facebook
Maine Turnpike Authority Scam Text, Maine Turnpike Authority via Facebook
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These are not from The Maine Turnpike Authority. MTA does not send E-ZPASS bills via text!"

The MTA says Maine E-ZPASS customers can either ignore those texts, or can check their online accounts for any charges.

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