Happy New Year 2025

Tag: receive

Receive a text saying you owe a toll payment? It’s a scam

Check Point Software head of engineering Mark Ostrowski encourages consumers to check their hospitality, hotel or airline accounts to ensure they’re in ‘good hygiene.’

Americans are getting hit with toll collection scams regardless if they have driven through a toll plaza or even own a car.

Fraudsters have been trying to steal sensitive information from victims through smishing texts, claiming that they owe money for unpaid tolls. The messages will typically direct consumers to a link and alert them that they need to pay “overdue toll charges” in order to avoid late fees.

Smishing is when a scammer sends malicious messages to the victim though short texts to convince them into giving out sensitive information.

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In some cases, the fraudster is pretending to be from E-ZPass. In one message, seen by FOX Business, the text claimed there were “excessive late fees” on a bill that needed to be paid by Feb. 12. The message also directs the victim to click a link.

A shot of a smishing text that is trying to convince victims to send money due to alleged unpaid tolls. (FOX Business / Fox News)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a warning that this tactic is far more dangerous than just losing money.

“Not only is the scammer trying to steal your money, but if you click the link, they could get your personal info (like your driver’s license number) — and even steal your identity,” the FTC said in a previous statement.

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Scammers aren’t just targeting familiar companies like E-ZPass, either. They are “pretending to be tolling agencies from coast to coast and sending texts demanding money,” the agency said in a warning notice last month.

Cash and E-ZPass signs on the New Jersey Turnpike. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The FBI has also issued warnings about this scam, given the number of complaints that rolled into its FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center. In April 2024, the FBI said the center received over 2,000 complaints in one month alone reporting smishing texts representing road toll collection services from at least three states, indicating that the scam may be moving from state to state.

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Here is how to protect yourself, according to the FTC:

1. Don’t click on any links or respond to unexpected texts. “Scammers want you to react quickly, but it’s best to stop and check it out,” the FTC said.

2. Check to see if the text is legit by reaching out to the state’s tolling agency using a phone number or website they recognize.

3. Delete unwanted text messages. The FTC says consumers should use their phone’s “report junk” option to report unwanted texts to their messaging app or forward them to 7726 (SPAM).

February 13, 2025
EPA workers receive termination warning letter

National Review staff writer Caroline Downey and Right Turn Strategies consultant Rob Smith discuss Americas growing contempt for Washington politics on Making Money.

Some workers at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have received a letter from the agency warning them that they may face termination amid the Trump administration’s efforts to scale back the government, FOX Business has learned.

The email, which was sent to 1,100 EPA employees on Wednesday according to the email reviewed by FOX Business, notifies workers that they were deemed to be on probationary status or are in a trial period as an employee and could be terminated immediately.

It instructs recipients to respond to an EPA email address only if they have one or more years of previous civilian service or are a veteran – though it warns that “confirming that one or more of these categories applies to you is not determinative of your probationary/trial period status. Each employee’s status will be determined individually.”

“As a probationary/trial employee, the agency has the right to immediately terminate you pursuant to 5 CFR § 315.804,” the email explained. “The process for probationary removal is that you receive a notice of termination, and your employment is ended immediately.”

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WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 21: The United States Environmental Protection Agency building is seen on August 21, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The email notes that EPA workers who are considered to be on probationary status or in a trial period may have the right to appeal their termination to the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) based on Office of Personnel Management (OPM) rules.

Whether or not EPA employees have a right to appeal their removal “will depend on whether you meet the definition of an ’employee’ under the law… and whether you meet the requirements of any OPM regulation that grants appeal rights,” the email explained.

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President Donald Trump’s administration is moving to scale back the federal workforce as part of a cost-cutting push. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The EPA’s email warning probationary and trial period employees of their potential termination comes as the Trump administration is seeking to shrink the federal workforce as part of a cost-cutting push spearheaded by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) while also bringing workers on telework programs back into the office.

On Tuesday, OPM sent a government-wide email offering buyouts to certain federal employees as part of a program that’s scheduled to run from Jan. 28 until Feb. 6. As part of the initiative, federal workers can choose to resign under the program while retaining all pay and benefits, regardless of workload, and be exempt from in-person work requirements until Sep. 30, 2025.

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SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk is serving as the leader of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). (Samuel Corum/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Federal workers who choose to take the buyout and deferred resignation will also continue to accrue personal leave and vacation days that will be paid out at their final resignation date, even though the workers won’t be required to work during the deferral period. They may continue to accrue federal retirement benefits during that period and can also get a second job.

The buyouts don’t apply to military personnel of the armed forces, the U.S. Postal Services, positions related to immigration enforcement and national security, and any other positions specifically excluded by the agency the federal workers are employed by.

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“The federal workforce is expected to undergo significant near-term changes,” OPM explained in a frequently asked questions document linked to the letter. “As a result of these changes (or for other reasons), you may wish to depart the federal government on terms that provide you with sufficient time and economic security to plan for your future – and have a nice vacation.”

February 1, 2025
Israel Defense Forces will receive hostages Sunday

Israel Defense Forces prepare for return of hostages

IDF personnel in coordination with the Israeli Health Ministry prepared Saturday for the return of hostages. The hostages are expected to return to Israel from the Gaza Strip Sunday. (Credit: Israel Defense Forces)

The Israel Defense Forces, in coordination with the Health Ministry, additional government ministries and security authorities, completed final preparations Saturday to receive the first of the hostages being released by Hamas from the Gaza Strip Sunday.

The preparations included home-like conditions inside trailers for the hostages to sleep before they head to hospitals to be looked over and all the comforts of home, including baskets of toiletries and fresh clothes.

Inside the trailers, the hostages will have couches and potted plants for a bit of décor. Outside, they can sit on outdoor patio furniture accented with colorful oversize pillows.

The receiving locations also have necessary medical provisions.

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The receiving locations for the hostages were set up to feel like home. (IDF)

From there, the hostages will be taken to hospitals, where they will be reunited with their families.

The IDF said it requests “patience and sensitivity” from the public as the hostages return.

“We ask everyone to respect the privacy of the hostages and their families,” the IDF said. “The public is requested only to refer to official updates and announcements and refrain from sharing unverified information.”

ISRAEL-HAMAS CEASE-FIRE, HOSTAGE RELEASE DEAL REACHED: ‘AMERICANS WILL BE PART OF THAT’

An IDF soldier makes preparations at a site where hostages are expected to arrive Sunday. (IDF)

The hostages have been held by Hamas for nearly 500 days since Hamas’ unprovoked attack on Israel Oct. 7, 2023.

Three hostages are expected to be released first on Sunday after a cease-fire agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas Wednesday.

IDF personnel make preparations at the various sites and in the hospitals where the hostages will arrive. (IDF)

The first hostages released are expected to be female.

In all, 33 hostages will be released, including two Americans. More than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners will be returned by the Israelis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday Israel wouldn’t move forward with the outline of the deal until it receives a list of the hostages to be released. That was agreed upon after the names didn’t arrive from Qatar as expected Saturday.

“Israel will not tolerate violations of the agreement,” he said. “The sole responsibility is on Hamas.

“In the … war, we make it clear to our enemies — we make it clear to the whole world — that when the people of Israel stand together, there is no force that can break us.

Thirty-three hostages are expected to be released by Hamas. (IDF)

“To date, we have brought home 157 of our abductees, of which 117 are alive. In the agreement now approved, we will bring home 33 more of our brothers and sisters, most of them alive.”

He also credited both President Biden and President-elect Trump with helping reach a cease-fire deal.

“As soon as he was elected, President Trump joined the mission of freeing the hostages,” Netanyahu said. “He talked to me on Wednesday night. He welcomed the agreement, and he rightly emphasized that the first step of the agreement is a temporary cease-fire. That’s what he said, “temporary cease-fire.’”

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Netanyahu said Biden and Trump “gave full backing to Israel’s right to return to fighting if Israel comes to the conclusion that negotiations on Phase B are futile.”

Netanyahu also said he appreciated Trump’s decision to “remove all remaining restrictions on the supply of essential weapons and armaments to the State of Israel.”

January 23, 2025