The Latest Text Message Smishing Scam – Toll Evasion
Be aware of the latest nation-wide text messaging scam
Have you received a text that looks like either of these?
These are fraudulent attempts to lure you into divulging person information or downloading malicious viruses.
Smishing
This type of texting scam is called Smishing, also known as SMS Phishing. Similar to the Phishing emails that you’ve probably received, these criminals send out text messages or phone calls to millions of phone numbers, hoping that a percentage of the recipients will be caught off-guard and click on the malicious link or reveal their personal information. These criminals will pose as large corporations or even vendors that you may actually use. They even do it to our parent company, Century Business Products.
Notice the odd phone number in the first example and the odd Hotmail email in the second example, do either of those look legitimate? The links within the text messages are also a giveaway of the fraudulent attempts.
When in doubt, open Google and search the first sentence that you see. Most likely, you’re not the only person to receive this message:
You should immediately hang up or report the message as spam, avoid clicking any links, and do not divulge any personal information.
Other examples of Smishing:
You probably had your antennas up when you received this toll evasion scam. That’s because your probably have received other smishing texts in the past. Here are a few other examples that you could receive:
- Package Deliveries: UPS, FedEx, Amazon
- Governmental Agencies: IRS, Police, FBI
- Tech Companies: Apple, Google, Verizon, AT&T
- Posing as a friend: Someone pretending to be a person you know
- Newsworthy Topics: Natural Disaster Relief, Emergencies
Why does this happen? How did they get your number?
Unfortunately, even if you’ve lived a perfect, scam-free life and you’ve been extremely vigilant with who you give your phone number out to, you will still receive these smishing texts. Some of the largest corporations in the world have been breached–your phone number was likely in one of those leaks.
Now, scammers can send out mass-smishing attempts to millions of phone numbers. It’s a numbers game for them. The more scams they send out, the more likely someone will fall for one.
What to do if you receive a fraudulent smishing text or call:
If you receive an unexpected phone call that is asking you for ANY personal, sensitive, or critical information, HANG UP. Go to the official website of the entity that the unknown caller was claiming to be and call their direct phone number. If they were pretending to be a bank, search your bank’s name, click on their website or call the number you see and ask them directly if the call was legit. Report the number you received to the official entity and inform them of what the scammer was asking for, so they can warn other potential victims.
Do NOT respond “STOP” or “UNSUBSCRIBE” if prompted. The criminals may increase their rate of attacks if you do.
Report the message as spam, junk to avoid a repeat text or call from that same number.
These texts and calls are going to keep coming. They will only get more believable as time goes on. If you receive a text or call from an entity that you have not interacted with recently or ever, be cautious and do not interact with it.
catalyst it can help
Within our IT services, Catalyst will help filter as many fraudulent attempts as possible. We scan every link to make sure that it is secure before you even click on it.
Contact Catalyst IT for more information.