Spambots are getting more stupid

[Lace Neil Singer]

I found this email in my junk folder, from a supposed American company.

Dear customer,

You have not paid for driving on a toll road. This invoice is sent repeatedly,
please service your debt in the shortest possible time.

The invoice can be downloaded here <link I didn't click as it's obviously mallware>

LOL. I don't live in America and I don't drive a car. XD

[TheSHAD0W]

A lot of them are *deliberately* stupid; if you're too stupid to realize the message content is malware, you're also too stupid to be able to contain a malware infection.

[XCashier]

IIRC, here in America, you have to pay the toll on a toll road or bridge at the booth at the entrance. You don't pay, you don't get through. You try to crash the gate, there are cameras and the cops will be all over you like ugly on a cockroach.

So no, you don't get to mail in your payment nor do you get unprofessionally-written letters demanding payment. Letter writer is A Speshul Kind of Stoopid™.

[wolfie]

I've seen a few tollbooths with the gate that rises when the toll is paid, but most are "ungated" - and if you go through the EZ-Pass lanes, there isn't even an attendant. There are cameras to catch your license plate, however.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Yeah, most of the toll plazas I've seen (and bear in mind, my experience with them is limited to the East Coast between Eastern Pennsylvania and the Outer Banks in North Carolina) don't have gates anymore. There may be booths, but some will be unattended, labeled "Exact Change" and/or "EZ-Pass." And there are some that are EZ-Pass Only. All of them have cameras to snap a picture of your license plate if you go through without your payment registering.

[Jester]

IIRC, here in America, you have to pay the toll on a toll road or bridge at the booth at the entrance. You don't pay, you don't get through. You try to crash the gate, there are cameras and the cops will be all over you like ugly on a cockroach.

So no, you don't get to mail in your payment nor do you get unprofessionally-written letters demanding payment. Letter writer is A Speshul Kind of Stoopid™.

Not so fast, my friend. Because this kind of stuff does exist.

Let me welcome you to the very Speshul State of Floriduh. In Floriduh, we have toll roads. It used to be that in said toll roads in Floriduh, you'd either pay tolls at various toll booths, or you'd have a special Sun Pass and fly through other specially designed toll booths that would have the ability to record your passage and take the appropriate amount off of your Sun Pass account. A few years ago, Floriduh changed things. There are no longer the old-fashioned toll booths where you stop and pay. You either have a Sun Pass or you get to participate in their new game that they call Pay By Plate. In Pay By Plate, drivers without Sun Pass drive said toll roads and when they go through the toll booths, a speed camera snaps their picture, and the state sends a bill to the owner of the car's license plate, for the amount of the toll and an "administrative fee."

Trust me when I say it's better to have Sun Pass. I live in the Keys, where we have no toll roads, but even I have Sun Pass for the few times I venture to the mainland, because Pay By Plate is fucking expensive, not to mention a royal pain in the ass. Because if you don't pay that bill they send you, they add on to it, and it just gets ridiculous.

Welcome to Floriduh!

[Deserted]

Yeah, but I'd like to think they'd phrase any dunning letter better than what Lace Neil Singer got...

[EricKei]

Stupid or not, it's still more coherent than the ones who show up 'round these parts. Well, you guys don't get to see them and bask in their incomprehensible-grammar glory, but that is intentional on our part

As for toll passes...? We didn't have many toll roads in southern Luuuuziana, but we do have a few that do the "license plate snapshot" thing. They were implemented after the government down that way realized that that vast majority of people simply weren't paying the toll at all (no manned booths at all, just the honor system). And much wailing and gnashing of teeth was to be had. On the upside, they are now making enough money from tolls actually being paid to actually make a dent in with the swamp-bridge maintenance costs

[XCashier]

Not so fast, my friend. Because this kind of stuff does exist.

Fair enough. I haven't been on any toll roads or bridges since we visited New York 15 years ago. I should have figured that other states might do things a little differently. (I don't think they have any in Oregon, at least not as far as I know. Could be wrong, it wouldn't be the first time.)

[Lace Neil Singer]

Even so, it's unlikely that I've been caught driving on a toll road in America, given the circumstances. XD

Last year, I even got a Nigerian businessman spam email; I loled. I didn't think those existed any more, and that they were just a meme now. XD A friend of mine emailed them back, suggesting that it would be easier if they sent him their bank details; strangely, he never heard anything back.

[Argabarga]

Well, remember, they wouldn't do it, if they didn't make money from it.....

So, somewhere, out there, are people who fall for it.......

[Jester]

Amusingly, I got the very same email today as the OP originally posted about.

Ignored it like it was a Justin Bieber fan.

Fair enough. I haven't been on any toll roads or bridges since we visited New York 15 years ago. I should have figured that other states might do things a little differently. (I don't think they have any in Oregon, at least not as far as I know. Could be wrong, it wouldn't be the first time.)

To be fair, toll roads are far more prevalent in the East, and even more so in the Northeast. Not generally a huge thing out West.

Well, remember, they wouldn't do it, if they didn't make money from it.....

So, somewhere, out there, are people who fall for it.......

What? No. Impossible. As we all know, people everywhere are far too intelligent to fall for such idiotic scams.

[dalesys]

What? No. Impossible. As we all know, people everywhere are far too intelligent to fall for such idiotic scams.

Yes PT.

This way to the egress, folks...

[klhanson]

In Illinois they have open road tolling now.. There aren't your typical toll booths, instead you just drive under sensors that are over the interstate. They have signs posted saying "Forgot to pay your toll? go to blahblahblah.blah to pay"

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

In Illinois they have open road tolling now.. There aren't your typical toll booths, instead you just drive under sensors that are over the interstate. They have signs posted saying "Forgot to pay your toll? go to blahblahblah.blah to pay"

You're supposed to buy a transponder and keep it in your vehicle to use that lane. The money must come out of your bank account.

I'm in FIBland maybe once a year, so I just hand cash to the attendant. It makes no sense for me to get the transponder.