Over the last few years, Pennsylvanians have been inundated with fraudulent text messages from bad actors masquerading as Commonwealth agencies. These fraudulent text messages warn of imaginary unpaid fees, fines, and tolls, and threaten recipients with excessive penalties such as driver’s license suspensions, court dates, and even arrest warrants unless they make immediate payment through a provided link to a fake website, which is often designed to look like an official government website. These scams have proven far too successful with many residents being tricked into providing their credit card information, banking information, social security numbers, and other personal information to these bad actors.
 
To combat these scams, residents have been advised repeatedly that Commonwealth agencies will never collect payments through text messages. Unfortunately, that is about to change. It was recently reported that the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is considering a new program to officially notify residents of any unpaid tolls through text messages. This change will cause massive chaos and confusion across the state, making it even harder for residents to distinguish between legitimate government communications and fake ones while making it easier for residents to fall victim to these scams.
 
To address this issue, I will be introducing legislation prohibiting the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and all Commonwealth agencies from using text messaging to notify residents about or collect any unpaid fines, fees, or tolls. Pennsylvanians need clear guidance that if they receive any text messages claiming to be from a Commonwealth agency about an unpaid fine, fee, or toll that it is 100% fake with no room for confusion.
 
Please join me in cosponsoring this important legislation to combat these scams and to better protect our residents.