Trend Micro.</a></p>\r\n<p>Scammers who exploit the use of text messages (SMS) to install malicious malware are promoting unwanted ads that can eventually lead to identity theft. According to the FBI&rsquo;s<a title=\"https://www.ic3.gov/\" href=https://www.scamadviser.com/"https://www.ic3.gov//">&nbsp;Internet Crime Complaint Center&nbsp;</a>report, a form of cyber fraud called &ldquo;Smishing&rdquo; cost victims across the USA over $54 million in 2020. Read through this guide to learn more about these spam text messages.</p>\r\n<h2>Top 4 Most Common Smishing Attacks</h2>\r\n<h3>&ldquo;Urgent&rdquo; Messages About Your Credit Card or Bank Account</h3>"}},{"_template":"Articles\\ImageFull","_identifier":"block-41525","data":{"image":"https://whitelabel-manager-production.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/thumbs/spam002-ac678.png_900x.png"}},{"_template":"Articles\\Text","_identifier":"block-41527","data":{"text":"<p>Text messages ask you to change your PIN or password because your account is locked or a fraudulent activity has occurred. In reality, hackers are &ldquo;verifying&rdquo; your identity to obtain personal information.</p>\r\n<p><strong>Notifications That You&rsquo;ve Won Something</strong></p>"}},{"_template":"Articles\\ImageFull","_identifier":"block-41539","data":{"image":"https://whitelabel-manager-production.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/thumbs/spam003-e0ceb.png_900x.png"}},{"_template":"Articles\\Text","_identifier":"block-41541","data":{"text":"<p>It sounds suspicious if you&rsquo;ve won something from a contest or raffle that you didn&rsquo;t enter &mdash; even more so when you have to enter personal information to obtain the prize.</p>\r\n<h3>Fake Surveys</h3>"}},{"_template":"Articles\\ImageHalf","_identifier":"block-41553","data":{"imageLeft":"https://whitelabel-manager-production.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/thumbs/spam004-19610.png_900x.png","imageRight":null}},{"_template":"Articles\\ImageHalf","_identifier":"block-41556","data":{"imageLeft":"https://whitelabel-manager-production.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/thumbs/spam005-3df6c.png_900x.png","imageRight":null}},{"_template":"Articles\\Text","_identifier":"block-41559","data":{"text":"<p>Scammers are now taking advantage of trusted brands. Be vigilant! A simple misspelled word can help identify a smishing attack.</p>\r\n<h2>Learn the 5 DO&rsquo;s and DON&rsquo;TS for SPAM Text Messages</h2>\r\n<h3>1. Stop sharing your phone number:</h3>\r\n<p>Be vigilant in giving out your phone number. Check to see if it is required when doing online activities such as online shopping, subscribing to online services or when scheduling an appointment. One good question:&nbsp;&ldquo;Do I trust the [company, service, etc.] to protect my privacy?&rdquo;</p>\r\n<h3>2. Don&rsquo;t reply or respond to messages asking for information:</h3>\r\n<p>Directly replying to such messages can lead the scammers to ask for your personal information or lead you to install a malicious app unknowingly.</p>\r\n<h3>3. Don&rsquo;t click on any links:</h3>\r\n<p>Clicking links from spam text messages is how scammers can attain your personal information. Think before you click!</p>\r\n<p><strong>Download&nbsp;</strong><a title=\"https://tmurl.co/saDTMMS\" href=https://www.scamadviser.com/"https://tmurl.co/saDTMMS/">Trend Micro Mobile Security</a> today &mdash; read text messages and browse the internet with peace of mind using these features:</p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Fraud Buster&nbsp;&mdash; Scan and identify fake text messages and text scams. Check your SMS/MMS messages for security threats.</li>\r\n<li>Web Guard&nbsp;&mdash; Automatically avoid malicious, fraudulent, and potentially dangerous websites!</li>\r\n<li>Privacy Scanner&nbsp;&mdash; Warns you about apps that could expose your personal information.</li>\r\n<li>PayGuard Mobile&nbsp;&mdash; Added security to your banking and financial apps. Guards against fake banking, financial and shopping apps that trick you into giving up account and personal information.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<p>Click on the button below to download <a title=\"https://tmurl.co/saDTMMS\" href=https://www.scamadviser.com/"https://tmurl.co/saDTMMS/">Trend Micro Mobile Security:</a></p>"}},{"_template":"Articles\\Button","_identifier":"block-41571","data":{"text":"Get Mobile Security","link":"https://tmurl.co/saDTMMS"}},{"_template":"Articles\\Text","_identifier":"block-41584","data":{"text":"<h3>4. Block SPAM Texts Through Your Phone Settings</h3>\r\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>For Android:</strong></span><br />Note: The steps may vary depending on the phone brand and model.</p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Select the text message you received</li>\r\n<li>On the upper-right, tap the dots&nbsp;<strong>Error! Filename not specified.&nbsp;</strong></li>\r\n<li>Select&nbsp;<strong>Blocklist</strong>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<strong>Block Sender</strong></li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>For iOS:</strong></span></p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Go to your phone&nbsp;<strong>Settings</strong>&nbsp;then tap&nbsp;<strong>Messages</strong></li>\r\n<li>Tap on&nbsp;<strong>Blocked</strong>&nbsp;then tap&nbsp;<strong>&ldquo;Add New&rdquo;</strong></li>\r\n<li>Select the contact or number that you want to add to the block list</li>\r\n<li>After selecting, tap&nbsp;&ldquo;Done&rdquo;: you won&rsquo;t receive any messages from that contact or number.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<h3>5. Report SPAM Text Messages</h3>\r\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>For North America:</strong></span></p>\r\n<p>Here is a list of the known mobile carriers that support reporting of spam text messages:</p>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>AT&amp;T</li>\r\n<li>Sprint</li>\r\n<li>T-Mobile</li>\r\n<li>Verizon</li>\r\n</ul>\r\n<p>To report, you can forward spam text messages to 7726 or SPAM to help investigate and prevent other customers from receiving it.</p>\r\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>For Australia:</strong></span></p>\r\n<p>Report any kind of spam to&nbsp;<a title=\"https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam\" href=https://www.scamadviser.com/"https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam/">Scamwatch.

/r/n

We hope this article has been of use/interest to you. If so, please do SHARE with friends and family to help keep the online community safe and secure.</strong></p>"}}],"sidebarBlocks":[{"_template":"Small\\Content\\Cta","_identifier":"block-157084","data":{"title":"Report a Scam!","consumer":null,"description":"Have you fallen for a hoax, bought a fake product? Report the site and warn others!","image":"https://files.scamadviser.com/thumbs/tell-your-story-8910e.png_200x200.png","button":"Report a Scam!","link":"https://www.scamadviser.com/leave-review"}},{"_template":"Small\\Content\\Taxonomy","_identifier":"block-157123","data":{"title":"Scam Categories","taxonomies":[{"id":7,"name":"Scam Alerts (779)","url":"https://www.scamadviser.com/articles/scam-alerts"},{"id":6,"name":"Scam Trends (240)","url":"https://www.scamadviser.com/articles/scam-trends"},{"id":8,"name":"Global Scam Country Guide (44)","url":"https://www.scamadviser.com/articles/global-scam-country-guide"},{"id":3,"name":"News about Scamadviser (39)","url":"https://www.scamadviser.com/articles/news-about-scamadviser"},{"id":5,"name":"Reliable Sites (27)","url":"https://www.scamadviser.com/articles/reliable-sites"},{"id":2,"name":"Research & Reports (26)","url":"https://www.scamadviser.com/articles/research-reports"},{"id":1,"name":"Tips & Support (24)","url":"https://www.scamadviser.com/articles/tips-support"},{"id":4,"name":"Advice for Companies (2)","url":"https://www.scamadviser.com/articles/advice-for-companies"}]}},{"_template":"Default\\Content\\Heading","_identifier":"block-59407","data":{"text":"Help & Info","size":"large"}},{"_template":"Default\\Content\\Articles","_identifier":"block-157795","data":{"articles":[{"_template":"Home\\Articles","_identifier":"block-157796","data":{"title":"Tips & Support","link":"","icon":"fa-lightbulb-o","renderAsInertiaLink":false}},{"_template":"Home\\Articles","_identifier":"block-157824","data":{"title":"Scam Alerts","link":"https://www.scamadviser.com/articles/scam-alerts","icon":"fa-exclamation-triangle","renderAsInertiaLink":true}},{"_template":"Home\\Articles","_identifier":"block-157839","data":{"title":"Learn about Scams","link":"https://www.scamadviser.com/articles/scam-trends","icon":"fa-tags","renderAsInertiaLink":true}},{"_template":"Home\\Articles","_identifier":"block-157854","data":{"title":"Reliable Sites","link":"https://www.scamadviser.com/articles/reliable-sites","icon":"fa-check-circle","renderAsInertiaLink":true}},{"_template":"Home\\Articles","_identifier":"block-157869","data":{"title":"Advice for Companies","link":"https://www.scamadviser.com/articles/advice-for-companies","icon":"fa-comment","renderAsInertiaLink":true}},{"_template":"Home\\Articles","_identifier":"block-157884","data":{"title":"Research & Reports","link":"https://www.scamadviser.com/articles/research-reports","icon":"fa-search","renderAsInertiaLink":true}},{"_template":"Home\\Articles","_identifier":"block-161131","data":{"title":"Global Scam Country Guide","link":"https://www.scamadviser.com/global-scam-country-guide","icon":"fa-globe","renderAsInertiaLink":false}}],"buttonText":"See all","buttonLink":"https://www.scamadviser.com/help-info"}},{"_template":"Default\\Content\\Heading","_identifier":"block-59517","data":{"text":"Popular Stories","size":"large"}},{"_template":"Default\\Content\\Blogs","_identifier":"block-59530","data":{"items":[{"id":13,"title":"How to Recognize a Scam Website","url":"https://www.scamadviser.com/articles/how-to-recognize-a-scam-website","excerpt":"As the influence of the internet rises, so does the prevalence of online scams. There are fraudsters making all kinds of claims to trap victims online - from fake investment opportunities to online stores - and the internet allows them to operate from any part of the world with anonymity. The ability to spot online scams is an important skill to have as the virtual world is increasingly becoming a part of every facet of our lives. The below tips will help you identify the signs which can indicate that a website could be a scam.\r\nCommon Sense: Too Good To Be True\r\nWhen looking for goods online, a great deal can be very enticing. A Gucci bag or a new iPhone for half the price? Who wouldn’t want to grab such a deal? Scammers know this too and try to take advantage of the fact.\r\nIf an online deal looks too good to be true, think twice and double-check things. The easiest way to do this is to simply check out the same product at competing websites (that you trust). If the difference in prices is huge, it might be better to double-check the rest of the website.\r\nCheck Out the Social Media Links\r\nSocial media is a core part of ecommerce businesses these days and consumers often expect online shops to have a social media presence. Scammers know this and often insert logos of social media sites on their websites. Scratching beneath the surface often reveals this fu","buttonText":"Read more","renderAsInertiaLink":true},{"id":4,"title":"How Do I Get Money Back From a Scammer?","url":"https://www.scamadviser.com/articles/how-do-i-get-money-back-from-a-scammer","excerpt":"So the worst has come to pass - you realise you parted with your money too fast, and the site you used was a scam - what now? Well first of all, don’t despair!!\r\nIf you think you have been scammed, the first port of call when having an issue is to simply ask for a refund. This is the first and easiest step to determine whether you are dealing with a genuine company or scammers. Sadly, getting your money back from a scammer is not as simple as just asking. \r\nIf you are indeed dealing with scammers, the procedure (and chance) of getting your money back varies depending on the payment method you used.\r\n\r\nPayPal\r\nDebit card/Credit card\r\nBank transfer\r\nWire transfer\r\nGoogle Pay\r\nBitcoin\r\n\r\nPayPal\r\nIf you used PayPal, you have a strong chance of getting your money back if you were scammed. On their website, you can file a dispute within 180 calendar days of your purchase.\r\nConditions to file a dispute:\r\n\r\nThe simplest situation is that you ordered from an online store and it has not arrived. In this case this is what PayPal states: \"If your order never shows up and the seller can't provide proof of shipment or delivery, you'll get a full refund. It's that simple.\"\r\nThe scammer has sent you a completely different item. For example, you ordered a PlayStation 4, but instead received only a Playstation controller. \r\nThe condition of the item was misrepresented on the product page. This could be the ","buttonText":"Read more","renderAsInertiaLink":true}]}}],"meta":{"title":"Tips to Stop Spam Texts 2021- Here’s How You Can Spot Smishing (SMS Phishing)","description":"Check if a website is a scam website or a legit website. ScamAdviser helps identify if a webshop is fraudulent or infected with malware, or conducts phishing, fraud, scam and spam activities. Use our free trust and site review 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