- Scam text messages are increasingly targeting individuals, warns cybersecurity expert Kristin Lewis.
- The FTC reports $470 billion stolen in scams last year, with top scams including fake fraud alerts.
- To protect yourself avoid replying to unexpected texts and report spam by forwarding to 7726.
SALT LAKE CITY — An out-of-the-blue text caught Victoria DiPietro's attention. It warned her that someone just bought $177 worth of stuff using her Apple Pay account. But that text didn't exactly send DiPietro into a panic.
"I don't use Apple Pay," DiPietro said.
It's just one in the steady stream of sketchy texts regularly popping up on her phone alongside the fake delivery scam text messages and the DMV toll texts she says she gets still.
Steady stream, did I say? More like, raging torrent.
Scam texts on the rise
The Federal Trade Commission says text scams stole $470 billion from Americans last year. In 2023, that number was $372 million.
"Nobody is immune," warned Kristin Lewis, senior vice-president of product at cybersecurity firm Aura.
She says scammers can find lists of information on the dark web or even the everyday web.
"There's also an incredible amount of information that's available — everything from your phone number and name to your Social Security number and driver's license number," Lewis said. "So, with just how much information knowingly or unknowingly is out there on the web, it's easier than you would think for somebody to piece together an enormous target list."
Once the bad guy finds or buys information, all that's left for them to do is to craft an urgent message that gets automated.
"With the technology that's out there today, you can really set up automation that's going to run through millions of phone numbers and initiate those types of text or calls automatically," said Lewis.
She says their tactics in conning us are getting more and more successful.
"They're using really sophisticated methods powered by AI to spoof everything from — it can really look like on your phone that this is Chase Bank calling," she said.
Top scams
The FTC says the top text scams right now include fake fraud alerts like the one Victoria DiPietro received. Also topping text scams are those bogus unpaid toll notices. Recently, a new incarnation of DMV texts centered around unpaid traffic or parking tickets has hit Utah. And phony job notices keep making the rounds, including the one that recently cost Tom Foulger $1,300.
"Terrible, you know, it's just a terrible feeling," he told me.
Protecting yourself
The bottom line here is don't reply to unexpected texts and don't click any links. And an out-of-the-blue text from your bank or a company you've done business with might not be legit. Contact the company using a phone number or website you know is real and confirm that text.
Many phones include a feature designed to filter out texts from unknown senders. For Apple users, there's information about configuring your phone to do that on the Apple support web page. More information for Google Messages users can be found on the Google support page.
If you get a spam text message, the FTC asks you to copy the message and forward it to 7726 (SPAM). It says doing that helps carriers spot and block similar messages in the future.
