A rise in smishing campaigns impersonating toll service providers has been traced to a China-based cybercriminal group known as the Smishing Triad.

The group is using deceptive instant messages to defraud users in the US and UK, with signs the activity may spread globally.

According to a new advisory by Resecurity, the scam works by sending fraudulent SMS and iMessage texts appearing to come from legitimate tolling agencies like FasTrak, E-ZPass and I-Pass.

These messages claim recipients owe unpaid toll bills, often using spoofed sender IDs to appear authentic. Victims are then directed to phishing websites designed to harvest personal and financial information...