E-ZPass site crashes briefly on first day of congestion pricing; issues alert on scam emails

January 7, 2025 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Pedestrians cross Delancey Street as congested traffic from Brooklyn enters Manhattan over the Williamsburg Bridge, March 28, 2019, in New York. Photo: Mary Altaffer/AP

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CITYWIDE — THE START OF CONGESTION PRICING was as tough on the E-Z Pass website as it was on drivers trying to enter Manhattan, reports Patch. The site seemed to crash on Monday morning, Jan. 6, the first workday of the tolling plan that aims to bring $15 million in revenue while reducing gridlock on Manhattan’s streets. Around 9:45 a.m., E-ZPass NY notified its subscribers that the website was “experiencing higher than normal activity.” The downtime lasted about 35 minutes and by 10:20 seemed to work again.

The E-ZPass website is also alerting customers to a scam: “SMiShing Scam – We have recently learned of a SMS text message scam being presented as an attempt to collect Tolls on behalf of “NY Toll Services,” the E-ZPass website said. “Please be advised this is NOT an authorized communication from E-ZPass or the Toll Agencies associated with E-ZPass. We advise you NOT to access the website contained within the message if you should receive one.”

Customers who have received such fraudulent text messages are being encouraged to file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center via www.ic3.gov, a website dedicated to sharing information on Internet crimes across law enforcement agencies.

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