As unscrupulous actors continue to impersonate government agencies and target unknowing people with texts about unpaid tolls, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel this week reissued a consumer alert.

With that in mind, this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast is a reprise of a conversation in June with J. Michael Skiba, also known as “Dr. Fraud,” a national expert on scams, like those proliferating in Michigan and other states, where text messages tell people they have unpaid road tolls. 

Skiba is department chair at Colorado State University Global, where he oversees the Criminal Justice Department, including specializations in fraud, financial crime and cybercrime. He discusses the psychology that prompts so many victims of online fraud to engage with scammers on smishing attempts. 

If you’ve been targeted, the FCC offers many tips. 

In April, the Michigan Department of Transportation released a video of Director Bradley C. Wieferich urging people not to respond to the texts.