Phishing Scams Delivered by Text

Phishing scams are the most effective ways for people to gain important and valuable information about your login name and password. Many of us have heard about phishing email scams and campaigns, but most people do not realize or understand that phishing scams can also take on the appearance of a text message on mobile devices.

Phishing text campaigns are difficult to spot. You must be highly wary of text messages that ask you to do something or provide information you are not expecting.

This is an example that unfortunately caught a few people: The alert said, “City Fraud Alert: online banking restricted.”  Many people assumed that this restriction is connected to their Citi bank or Citi credit/debit card account because it states City, not realizing the spelling difference. People panicked because they did not want to be locked out, restricted from online banking, or  feared their account would be compromised. However, by clicking the link and inputting their online banking credentials, they actually gave the hackers everything they needed to empty their bank account and compromise online banking.

It is always important regardless of it being an email or a text message, that you carefully inspect the message, the quality of the writing and grammar, is it even relevant to you and your situation, and does your bank or other financial institution normally reach out and contact you through this method?