"Once they have that, they can scam you for other things," Clay said.
Aidan Holland, senior security researcher at threat research platform Censys, has been extensively tracking toll scams and agrees that they are likely perpetuated by Chinese criminals overseas. Holland has identified 60,000 domains, which he estimates cost the criminals $90,000 to buy in bulk and use to launch attacks.
"You don't invest that much unless you are getting some kind of return," Holland said.