Phish Bowl Alerts
According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) latest Data Spotlight, the current most prevalent text scam is "copycat bank fraud prevention alerts", with texts impersonating banks up nearly twentyfold since 2019, and scammers able to collect a median of $3,000 per incident last year.
According to the FTC's Data Spotlight, the five most common text scams for 2022 were:
1. Copycat bank fraud prevention alerts
2. Bogus "little gifts" that can cost you
3. Fake package delivery problems
4. Phony job offers
5. Not-really-from-Amazon security alerts
But why do they work?
Scammers use the speed of text communication to their advantage: they hope you won’t slow down and think over what’s in the message. Some messages promise a good thing – a gift, a package, or even a job. Others try to make you panic, thinking someone’s in your accounts. These are all lies and ways to take your money and personal information.
What can you do?
- Forward it to 7726 (SPAM). This helps your wireless provider spot and block similar messages.
- Report it on either the Apple iMessages app or Google’s Messages app for Android users.
- Report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
How can you avoid text scams?
- Never click on links or respond to unexpected texts. If you think it might be legit, contact the company using a phone number or website you know is real. Don’t use the information in the text message.
- Filter unwanted texts before they reach you. There are a few ways to block unwanted texts.
- To learn more about how to spot and avoid scams – and how to recover money if you’ve paid a scammer – visit ftc.gov/scams. Learn more about text scams at ftc.gov/textscams.
For the complete FTC communication, including descriptions of each of the scams, read IYKYK: The top text scams of 2022.