If you receive a suspicious text message that claims to come from a bank, it’s very likely part of a phishing scam, especially if you don’t do any business with that financial institution.
Such messages often claim there’s an issue with your account; a problem with a previous purchase; or a transfer of money that you need to stop by clicking a link. These are often referred to as “bank alert text scams.”
We strongly advise against clicking any links in these kinds of messages. Instead, delete the texts from your phone. Such links can compromise your accounts and lead to fraudulent pages that scammers created to seem like official bank websites.
For example, the phishing links in these text messages might send you to a website that appears to be an official page for Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo, or another banking institution. In reality, though, scammers designed the website to try to convince you of their “legitimacy,” and into spilling your login details for online banking, personal information, and financial data.
One example of a bank alert text scam message claiming to be from Chase surfaced on Twitter in July 2022. The text message read, “Chase: Your debit card has been temporarily disabled; in order to reinstate it, go over all of your personal info carefully.” The link in the message led to a phishing attempt; It did not go to the bank’s official website, Chase.com.
I called my bank to verify that this was a legitimate…
