Never call any unknown telephone number that is provided in a text message.Always check with the person directly – by calling your bank branch, for example – to see if the text is real.Always delete texts from your phone which you feel may be bogus.Never click on a website a text message asks you to click on.Never respond if any text asks you for personal information.You can protect yourself from identity theft – and smishing in particular – by taking the following precautions: If you do not do so immediately, the message says, your bank account will be closed or suspended.
A text is sent asking you to reconfirm your bank account and PIN number, as fraudulent activity has been noticed.When you do, the person at the other end of the phone asks for your bank account information. You are asked to call a freephone number to cancel a financial transaction.When you click on it it asks you for personal information. You receive a text message warning you about a charge that has appeared on your bank account, one which you can cancel only if redirected to a specific website.Here are some of the more common smishing scams to watch out for: Many people are unaware that smishing exists, so may not be as alert as they should be to a possibility of a text message scam.You may notice nothing with a brief text message. If an email is full of misspellings and mistakes, you may notice something is not right. A bogus text can be considerably shorter than an email.Such filters do not exist on mobile phones. Spam filters exist on computers to get rid of fake messages before they reach you, or to alert you to fake ones.That's because of several reasons, including: But while people are on alert for email phishing messages, often they do not recognise a text message smishing scam. Then, not only have you lost money, but your credit history eventually will be hurt, once they make big purchases in your name.Ĭharacteristics of SmishingHarvesting unsuspecting members of the public for their personal data for fraudulent purposes is nothing new. Once they have effectively stolen your identity, they then try to either empty out your account, or go and get credit cards in your name. The bogus text will say that the bank has noticed a problem with your account, and that to rectify it, it needs specific information, such as your name, date of birth and address – and sometimes even the password to your bank account. Of course, a small population of people receiving the text will actually have an account with that bank, so will fall for the scam. Much like the stereotypical email phishing scam, these smishing fraudsters send out a text claiming to be from your bank. Also known as "smishing", it is a new form of phishing that enables fraudsters to get their hands on your money even quicker than they did in the past. Text messaging identity theft is a relatively new scam that more and more people seem to be falling for.
0 kommentar(er)
