The Federal Communications Commission published a study on the rise in reports of suspicious message complaints last month. A recent unexpected text message concerning a gift, account freezing, or any other message from an unidentified person was probably sent by a fraudster. Keep in mind that carriers are required by federal law to use anti-spam technology to thwart automated calls.
These calls decreased from 2. 1 billion to 1 billion.
1 billion in a year, but the committee’s monitor revealed that over the same time period, SMS fraud increased tenfold, reaching almost 12 billion texts each month. Here are some recommendations from a recent Wall Street Journal article to avoid getting conned:
First and foremost, as the commission warned, many recent messages mimic the US Postal Service and charge a delivery fee. Always be cautious and think carefully before responding to any text message.
Additionally, some notifications—like Your account has been terminated—cause you to act impulsively, while others—like You won!—are incredibly enticing.
Second, avoid clicking on any links or opening any suspicious files. Any text in the message that includes a link, a file to download, or a phone number should be ignored.
Phishing is a technique used by con artists to access your information by attempting to obtain personal or financial information from you or tricking you into entering your login credentials into a fake website. Even if the message seems legitimate, it is best to sign in directly to the business’s website or app.
Third: Don’t ever reply to spam.
You can verify that your phone number is active by responding to the message. What exposes you to more of these messages?
Fourth, since most companies support this using the messaging software available on Android and iPhone handsets, report the spam message and prohibit the sender.
Fifth, Android and iPhone smartphones enable you to separate recognised and anonymous communications, so you may add known firm phone numbers to your contacts to filter out anonymous messages.
You can also use an anonymous message filtering programme like Robocaller, which for $30 a year allows you to block certain phrases and guarantees to erase 99% of unsolicited text messages.
Sixth: Keep a few things in mind so you don’t get scammed again. Follow the government’s instructions and report the fraud right away if you’ve been conned to stop the transaction and stop identity theft.
You are a target for these messages because many chat bots create phone numbers automatically, but you shouldn’t provide your numbers unless it is really required. It is also advised to set up multi-factor protection for all of your accounts and generate long, unique passwords using password manager tools.
More and more people are receiving suspicious texts. Here are a few ways to stay away from them.
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