Scammers are always trying to get into our pockets and one of their scams is called Smishing. Similar to Phishing emails, except Smishing is done through text messages. You probably receive many text messages a day, with quite a few from unknown numbers.
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Smishing is when “Scammers send fake text messages to trick you into giving them your personal information — things like your password, account number or Social Security number. If they get that information, they could gain access to your email, bank, or other accounts. Or they could sell your information to other scammers.”
Another thing smishing scammers do is claim to be someone in authority, like a boss, family member, or friend.
Recently a few employees at AltaOne Federal Credit Union (AltaOne) received the following text message from an unknown number, purported to be from the credit union’s CEO Stephanie Sievers:
Hi let me know if you are available. There is something I need you to do and also your confidentiality would be appreciated. Reply me here once you get this. Thanks Stephanie Sievers.
This text message did not actually come from Stephanie Sievers, it came from a scammer. This smishing attempt follows a familiar pattern: Text from someone with authority to build trust, followed by a request to purchase gift cards,…
