The Maine Turnpike Authority is warning drivers not to fall for a text messaging scam trying to get E-ZPass holders to pay for fake toll charges on a fraudulent website.

The so-called smishing – SMS phishing – scam involves text messages that appear to be from the Maine Turnpike Authority, claiming there is an unpaid E-ZPass toll and threatening an additional $35 fee if the balance is not paid immediately. The message includes a link to pay online.

The Maine Turnpike Authority said in a news release that the messages are not legitimate and that the authority does not use text messages to collect toll payments.

“Any correspondence regarding violations is sent via U.S. mail,” the MTA said.

It’s unclear how many people have received the text messages. The agency has not tallied the number of calls specifically about the scam, but authority spokesperson Erin Courtney said it’s been “hundreds per day.”

On a normal day, the turnpike authority receives between 900 and 1,100 calls. On Monday, it received 2,300.

People who are frustrated that they haven’t been able to reach anyone by phone have instead gone to the service center in person.

“It’s clogging up our resources to try to answer legitimate customer concerns,” Courtney said.

Some callers are just trying to verify that it’s a scam or figure out what’s wrong with their account if it’s not refilling, while others are upset because they don’t understand why they have a charge when they don’t even use the turnpike.

There’s no direct correlation between the turnpike authority and who gets the texts, Courtney said.

The turnpike authority has been the victim of email phishing scams in the past, but “we’ve never had one with this level of impact on our day-to-day operations,” she said. “I think the fact that this one came through text and had an image that had our logo … really gave people pause.”

The calls started trickling in Thursday, then ramped up Friday and continued into Tuesday. The in-person visits had slowed by Tuesday, Courtney said, adding that a receptionist put a note on the front door with a picture of the text, saying it was a scam and that people should not to waste their time in line.

Courtney said she had only heard of one person who put in a credit card number and paid the fee.

Maine joins a string of states hit with this “smishing” scam since early March.

The FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center sent out a warning about the scams in April and said the bureau had received over 2,000 complaints. It warned the scam seemed to be spreading “from state-to-state.” At the time, the turnpike authority had not received any reports of the scam in Maine.

Similar scams have been reported in Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas.

Because the scam doesn’t directly involve the MTA – it only impersonates it – there’s not much the agency can do other than try to alert people. None of the authority’s systems were compromised, so there isn’t an investigation it can launch. The situation has been reported to the FBI.

It’s hard to address cybercrimes, Courtney said. “It’s whack-a-mole. You have one and look into that, but then you have to look into the next thing. They’re getting smarter and smarter,” she said. “We’re not the only entity that gets plagued with these things from time to time – it’s just our turn.”

Courtney said any future scams or phishing attempts should be reported to the turnpike authority using the contact form on the agency’s website so it can be addressed before it gets out of hand.

“We want to make sure that Mainers are protected,” she said.