For Bill Rogers, the red flag went up the moment he got the email claiming to be a bill from E-ZPass on Dec. 5.

The email — which had the subject line “Indebtedness for driving on a toll road” — advised Rogers to click on an attached link to pay his E-ZPass bill.

“It seemed suspicious… so we didn’t open it,” said Rogers, who lives in North Suffolk. “We pay automatically, and it’s replenished when it gets too low.

“We knew we didn’t owe anything … but somebody is going to get burned by this.”

The FBI’s Cyber Crimes Division has been investigating similar “phishing” scams in the 16 states that participate in the E-ZPass program since August 2014, said Shannon Marshall, assistant communications for the Virginia Department of Transportation.

E-ZPass Virginia has not heard too many complaints in recent months, although the FBI’s notice remains posted on both the state and national E-ZPass websites, she said.

“It doesn’t appear widespread or overwhelming,” said Marshall. “Every now and then, we get a call from someone saying they have gotten an email that looks strange.”

E-ZPass Virginia does not send any emails with hidden links, Marshall said. According to website, any emails originating from E-ZPass Virginia will have one of three return addresses: NoReply@ezpassva.com, customerservices@ezpassva.com or ezpass@ricklanddirect.com.

The FBI asks anyone who suspects they may have received a suspicious email to file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center, www.ic3.gov.

If anyone ever has questions about the legitimacy of an email from E-ZPass Virginia, they should call the customer service center at 1-877-762-7824, Marshall said.

She encouraged people to be vigilant when it comes to monitoring their emails for phishing scams, particularly around the holidays.