You should be wary of any links in the message, Ramzan said. If you think the link is legitimate, you can (and should) hover over to check the URL before you click. "If the URL looks off or doesn't match the official site, it's likely a scam," he said. To play it safe, call the toll agency directly to take care of any unpaid tolls.

The texts from E-ZPass seem official, but there are often easy ways to determine that someone is trying to steal your money.

The reason there’s been such an increase in toll road scams is because the scammers have been successful – so the first step in staying safe is to understand what the scam is and how it works. To avoid falling for this, you need to know what your local toll agencies are, what their websites are and how they take and ask for payment.