![]() ![]() The most important thing to remember is that responsible companies will never ask you to reply to a message with your personal or banking information, or tell you to click on a link. a common example is a text message from your cellular provider offering deals on data plans or new smartphones.It's common to receive legitimate text messages from legitimate companies that are making legitimate offers for their products or services: However, prior to receiving winnings, the victim must pay an upfront fee. ![]() Prize-related scamsĪ victim receives a text or email notifying that they’re the winner of a lottery or sweepstakes prize. When the victim responds to the communication, they are asked for a credit card number to pay for fees like taxes to obtain the prize they’ve supposedly won. Travel-related scamsĪ potential victim receives an email or text from a well-known travel company such as Expedia, Air Canada or WestJet advising the individual they’ve won a vacation, they’re a preferred customer and / or have been awarded a credit or discount, if booked immediately. The remaining funds are to be used to send a wire transfer at a money service business like Western Union or MoneyGram to test the procedure and customer service skills.Įventually, the cheque is returned as counterfeit and the “employee” is accountable to pay for the funds that were wired, typically in the range of $900 to $1,500. The employee is told to deposit the cheque and keep a portion of the money as payment. The “employer” encloses a cheque with the letter to assist with the purchase of goods to fulfil the shopping. This fraud uses text messages, email messages and free online classified websites such Kijiji, Craigslist, Monster and Workopolis to recruit potential victims.Ĭonsumers answer a text message ad to become a mystery shopper. The fake employer then sends a letter with shopping tasks to be completed at a store by the potential mystery shopper. One of the more recent scams, this ploy aims to trick people into giving up their Apple account password and, from there, hackers can easily access your bank account details, your location and / or other information. phishing emails may also contain links to websites that are infected with malicious software that can damage your computer or device. ![]() In phishing scams, the texts or emails appear to be from well-known companies, social websites, banks, online payment processors or IT administrators and are commonly used to lure unsuspecting victims. Phishing scams are attempts to obtain usernames, passwords, and credit card details for malicious reasons by pretending to be a trustworthy, legitimate business. The technology allows scammers to pretend to be a bank, an email provider or another legitimate company simply by using their name in the text message. OverviewĪ text scam is any type of unsolicited electronic message that attempts to obtain personal information about your identity, online accounts, or money.Ī major problem with text scams is how easy it is to appear to be someone else over text. Protect your personal information from identity theft, and learn what to do if you think someone is using your identity, or download an Identity Theft tip sheet for ways to protect your information. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |