“Unpaid Toll Reminder: You have an outstanding toll payment. The payment is due [very soon]. If not paid by the due date, additional late fees may apply and it may result in the revocation of your driver’s license. To avoid any penalties, please make your payment promptly using the link below. Thank you for your immediate attention.”

You’ve probably gotten one of these texts. Indeed, they’ve gone out to thousands of people, and not just in Florida.

The first time you receive one it can be a shock and you may think you need to reply immediately.

But the scam is obvious: Once you click on the link the scammer gets information. Fill out the form and you hand over your personal information to unknown parties who can use it for all sorts of mischief.

“Don’t click on the link,” warned Sgt. Heather Nichols, head of the Economic Crimes Section of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office. “When you get this, just slow down a second, just think about it. Look into where this message came from. Phone numbers can be spoofed. Emails can look legitimate.”

SunPass is acutely aware of the scam, Yasir Mercado, communications manager for Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise, which runs Sun-Pass, told The Naples Press.

“It is important for the public to know that SunPass will never request payment or personal information through unsolicited text messages. If you receive a suspicious message, do not click on any links,” he wrote.

“These text messages were not sent by SunPass. SunPass does not ask customers via text to make a payment or take immediate action on their account. If SunPass needs to contact its customers, it will appear as follows: Email: customerservice@sunpass. com or noreply@sunpass.com.”

The toll-pass scam is being perpetrated nationwide and users of other toll-pass platforms such as EZ-Pass have been contacted too, according to Mercado. Given the anonymity of digital communication and the vastness of the scam, law enforcement and SunPass aren’t able to pinpoint a particular gang or country that’s generating the texts.

The scam uses a technique called “smishing,” a reference to the more familiar term “phishing,” which refers to getting individuals to click on links in emails, sending them to fraudulent websites or stealing their information. “Smishing” refers to “Short Message Service” (a text message).

Where do the scammers get the phone numbers to send out the texts? They can come from anywhere.

“We are from Michigan and visited your city last Thursday,” Linda Missler, of Cadillac, Michigan, told The Naples Press. “When we went to the Olive Garden for dinner, I chose for the receipt to be sent as text to me. I typed my number in. The next morning I received a text saying I owed for a SunPass. I deleted the text immediately.”

Falling for one of these schemes can make for hours of headaches and misery trying to correct the mistake and change all your passwords, not to mention financial losses.

But you don’t have to fight this alone.

“Let your software work for you,” Nichols said. “Take your phone’s word for it when it says it’s a scam. They put that software on there for a reason.”

And remember: Never open a link you don’t recognize.

Stay safe out there. David Silverberg is a journalist who covered security issues as editor of the magazine Homeland Security Today before moving to Naples. He currently blogs at The-ParadiseProgressive.com.