On July 7, 2024, Google users searched for answers about a My Good To Go toll scam text via MyGoodToGoToll.com. Some users also searched for My Good To Go toll or MyGoodToGoToll to find details about the scam text. The scam text alerted users to make payments on a purported My Good To Go toll payment website. My Good To Go, or officially just Good To Go, is Washington state’s electronic payment method for road tolls.
The Truth About the My Good To Go Toll Scam Text
However, scammers registered the fake My Good To Go toll website domain MyGoodToGoToll.com. According to the GoDaddy.com WHOIS domain search tool, they registered MyGoodToGoToll.com hours earlier, also on July 7.
Any readers who received the My Good To Go scam text can ignore it. The scammers have no knowledge regarding if you or anyone else owes money for tolls. The scammers simply attempted to convince as many text message recipients as possible they needed to make payments to the government of the state of Washington.
The Scammers’ Trick on MyGoodToGoToll.com
The Washington State Department of Transportation website pointed to the official website for the Good To Go toll payment program. That website is MyGoodToGo.com, without the word “toll.” In other words, the scammers attempted to fool users into believing MyGoodToGoToll.com was no different from MyGoodToGo.com.
Washington State Department of Transportation Issues Alert
Another page on the Washington State Department of Transportation’s website issued a special warning about the My Good To Go toll scam text for MyGoodToGoToll.com.
The website’s managers published, “Scam alert: Good To Go! will not request payments on any website but MyGoodToGo.com. Do not click unknown links in emails or texts.”
Meanwhile, on the official website MyGoodToGo.com, the website’s managers published the similar alert, “Scam alert: Good To Go! will not request payments on any website but MyGoodToGo.com. Do not click unknown links in emails or texts. We never ask for birthdate when paying tolls.”
The Scammers’ Strategy
On the MyGoodToGoToll.com scam website, the scammers claimed each potential victim owed $6.67. Scammers copied the design and layout of the official government website in an effort to fool people into believing it had legitimacy.
The ask on the scam website read, “PAY AN INVOICE OR VIOLATION. It’s not too late to pay your toll bill. Our records indicate that your vehicle has an unpaid toll invoice. To avoid a bill with excessive late fees, kindly settle your balance. Total Amount Due: $6.67.”
After selecting “Payment,” the scam website requested personal information. In the final step, the scammers asked for credit card details. Do not provide any of this data to scammers.
Again, no one in the world owes any money to MyGoodToGoToll.com. Scammers operate the website. Scammers often design their fraudulent schemes to reach as many people as possible. They use fear as a tactic to try to convince innocent people to give up personal information and financial data. The fear tactic involved in the My Good To Go toll scam text involved the thought of consequences if money wasn’t paid to the government.
A New Wave of Toll Scams
Throughout the year 2024, scammers pretended in text messages they represented various toll agencies from numerous U.S. states, just like they did for the My Good To Go toll scam text via MyGoodToGoToll.com. These toll scams are not necessarily new. However, what I have witnessed with this new wave of scams surprised me.
I don’t remember exactly when this wave of toll scams started but sometime earlier in 2024, scammers sent text messages to victims while pretending to represent a specific toll organization. One or two weeks later, they claimed they were part of a different state’s toll program. Recently, the scammers posed in scam texts as SunPass, the state of Florida’s toll system.
Local and national news websites often report on these scams as one-off situations without taking into account the larger state-by-state scam strategy.
If scammers have not yet pretended they represent a specific state’s toll program, that scam is likely coming very soon to a state near you.
Scammed? Here’s What You Should Do
Anyone scammed by the My Good To Go toll scam text via MyGoodToGoToll.com should follow several steps to ensure they won’t be further scammed.
My first piece of advice: Call your credit card company. Tell them about the scam website MyGoodToGoToll.com. Alert them of the fact scammers created the website on July 7 as a lookalike website for the legitimate website MyGoodToGo.com. Hopefully, the credit card company will refund your money and block any future charges.
Second, file a fraud report with the FTC. Include as many details as possible. Here’s why I recommend this practice, in the words of the FTC: “Your report is shared with more than 2,800 law enforcers. We can’t resolve your individual report, but we use reports to investigate and bring cases against fraud, scams and bad business practices.” In other words, your report to the FTC might help law enforcement agencies find scammers and bring them to justice, even if the prospect of that happening seems unlikely.
Additionally, beware of scams known as refund and account recovery scams. Such scams involve deceptive users contacting to scam victims, usually over messaging and social media apps. The users will claim to have expertise with a special toolset to help victims recover lost money or restore access to a lost online account. However, these users are only after your money. They have no special skills or tools whatsoever.
What State Is Next?
As I mentioned before, the scammers involved with the My Good To Go toll scam text via MyGoodToGoToll.com operate their scam naming a new state’s toll program on what seems like a weekly basis. Next week, the scammers might create lookalike websites and claim in text messages they represent Kentucky’s RiverLink toll program or perhaps Virginia’s TollRoadsInVirginia.com. Whatever happens, don’t fall for it.
For further reading, the BBB published an article titled, “BBB Tip: Spot the red flags of fake text messages.”