Text Scams on the Rise. Your Best Defense? No Response

Scammers are at it again.

If you received an innocent-sounding text from a number you did not recognize, it’s probably not that innocent. It might be the start of a “wrong phone number” scam, which is being used to steal money and information.

It starts with a random and seemingly harmless text from an unfamiliar number that says something like, “How are you doing?” This is meant to prompt a response from the targeted victim, confirming the phone number
is active.

After that, scammers try to build a relationship. They try to gain a victim’s trust. This can turn into fraudsters soliciting investments or convincing victims to hand over their retirement savings. Even if a victim does not
send money, information they provide can be sold on the dark web.

AI has been aiding and abetting scammers in several ways. It helps tailor texts by area code and uses social media profiles to identify potential targets and locate their phone numbers. It also can collect enough information for fraudsters to gain access to social media accounts, lock them down, and demand a ransom.

Along with the wrong number text scam, unpaid tolls and unpaid parking fee schemes have been circulating as text messages. These too are phishing attempts that seem legitimate but lead you to hand your credit card information over to thieves.

Received a Random Text?

Don’t become a statistic and add your money to the millions already lost from text message scams.

If you receive a text from a number you don’t know, don’t respond.

Research from security firm McAfee reported by CNBC indicates that around 25% of Americans have received wrong number texts. According to the Federal Trade Commission, consumers lost $470 million to text message
scams in 2024, a five-fold increase over 2020.