More People Becoming Victims Of “Smishing”

(KFOR NEWS May 10, 2021) A growing number of Americans are signing up for ways to protect their personal and financial information. One way is to get text alerts from your bank to confirm each time you make a new purchase…but that form of protection cam actually make you an easy target.

Scammers texted people telling them their bank card had been charged a withdrawal and to “Contact If Suspicious.” Often times a robotic voice will welcome the caller, asking for ID verification, including credit card number, Social Security number and birthday. That’s when the voice and the other end says “This information is valid. Thank you”…and hungs up.

It’s called “smishing,” or SMS phishing, in which a scammer sends a text message to trick a person into turning over some sensitive personal information, which can be used for all sorts of fraud, like siphoning money from their bank account or opening up credit cards in their name.

The numbers are staggering. The Federal Trade Commission got 334,833 complaints about scam texts last year, more than double the year before. People around the world were exposed to about 125% more smishing attempts every three months, a new study from the cybersecurity company Lookout found.