Google vows to stop scam E-Z Pass and USPS texts plaguing Americans

(arstechnica.com)

20 points | by BlackPlot 17 hours ago ago

5 comments

  • jeffwask 12 hours ago ago

    It was wild how quickly the E-Z Pass scammers knew that I had been on a road trip and passed through those tolls. I live in TX and drove to MA for Christmas last year and these started right when I got back. They are almost def on the inside at this point.

    • PaulHoule 12 hours ago ago

      Not sure if they are smart or just lucky.

      A friend of mine got evicted illegally from the homeless shelter and got a moderately sized settlement which was a challenge for him to receive because he made it to his 50s without ever getting a bank account.

      He started getting scam texts from someone who kept needing money to get a bus ticket to visit him and one time claimed to be at the local airport needing money for a cab ride. One of our friends convinced him to take a cab to the airport himself to meet this "person" who wasn't there.

      We were thinking that they might have targeted him based on public records but I can say in the last few months I've met five people who are think are scammers sending me DMs on the like of Mastodon, Bluesky and Tumblr.

  • lunias 10 hours ago ago

    Why don't we just create a better system? In order for you to text / call me, you must first request to be able to text / call me; you can't modify this request or add your own language to it, this request identifies your device. Also allow me to toggle off "Allow new requests" and I feel like the phone starts working the way it should.

  • jt2190 16 hours ago ago

    > Damages are not specified in the complaint, which accused the Lighthouse enterprise of committing wire fraud and violating the [U.S.] Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, the Lanham Act, and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, among other allegations.

    I guess this is a first step toward some larger legal goal? It’s not even clear if “Lighthouse” is the name of an overseas company or just the name of the service.

  • nubinetwork 16 hours ago ago

    Excuse me while I laugh...

    Oh wait, you're being serious...

    Let me laugh even harder...