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Mar 15, 2024 · The minute someone tells you to lie to anyone — including bank tellers or investment brokers — stop. It’s a scam. “Don’t trust anyone. They’re in on it.”. That’s a scam. Scammers want to cut you off from anyone who might slow you down. “Do [this] or you’ll be arrested.”. That’s a scam. Any threat like this is a lie.
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The scammer tailors a message to look like a legitimate one from a major bank or service. Using spoofing techniques the message is sent to numerous recipients in the hope that some will take the bait and fall for the scam. In phishing and whaling attacks, the scammer first gathers details about the target individual or company.
- Overview
- Is it wise to scare text scammers?
- Ways to Reply to a Text Scammer
- Staying Safe When Messaging a Text Scammer
- Reporting and Avoiding Text Scams
Is it wise to scare text scammers?
Text scammers can be dangerous at worst and incredibly annoying at best, however, it may not be the best idea to engage with them at all. If you decide to mess with a text scammer, make sure you consider the risks and take precautions to stay safe when engaging with them. In this article, we’ll give you the best responses to mess with a text scammer, but we’ll also provide tips to stay safe when pranking them back and suggest better alternate ways to deal with text scammers to protect you and others who might be at risk.
If you respond to a text scammer, they may send or sell your number to other scammers. Avoid clicking on suspicious links and sharing personal info.
To scare a scammer, you could waste their time with silly responses, pretend to be an automated messenger, or resend them the messages they sent you.
Report all text scams to
the Federal Trade Commission’s Report Fraud site
It's best to avoid engaging with scammers.
Although it can be entertaining (and sometimes hilarious) to give scammers a taste of their own medicine, replying to their texts can invite more trouble than it may be worth. A single response can be enough to prove that your number is real, and scammers can potentially sell your information to other groups, inviting even more unwanted messages—getting your personal information may just be a nice bonus.
Waste their time by pretending to go along with their scam.
Don’t go all the way and send them money or click on links or anything, but play along to waste as much of their time as possible. Ask them questions, make plans you’ll never fulfill, and pretend to fall for their scam. Just make sure you don’t give them any personal information!
You can also mess with scammers by introducing ridiculous elements into the conversation, like asking them to communicate using a secret code made entirely of cereal brands.
Pretend to be an automated messenger.
One of the most satisfying ways to shut down a text scammer is to scam them right back—with a pretend automated message. As a bonus, you can also say that they’ll be “billed” or “charged” for your services to really mess with their heads. Here are some funny templates you can use:
“Thank you for subscribing to Random Bird Facts. Each morning you’ll receive a new cool fact about birds! You will be charged €10.”
Avoid clicking any links or attachments.
When texting back scammers, be careful to avoid clicking on links, downloading PDFs, or opening attachments. These could potentially have viruses or other malicious software attached to them that could steal your information or harm your devices.
Use a fake name and avoid sharing personal information at all times.
By openly sharing things like your pet’s name, the schools you attended, your family members’ names, or your birthday, you could give the scammer all they need to guess your passwords or answer security questions. If you want to mess with your scammer, make sure you don’t provide any real information.
Watch out for common texting scams.
Often, a scammer will pretend to be a person you know or a well-known company and send you fake websites or ask for your personal information. If you’re not sure how to identify a fake text message, here are some common texting scams to look out for:
The text pretends to be from the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx, or UPS claiming that there’s an issue with your delivery.
If you recently posted your resume on a job site, you may get a text or message where they claim to offer a job or send you checks in the mail so you will deliver your money to a secure address for them to pick it up.
They pretend to be a bank and ask you to call a number about suspicious activity on your accounts or ask you to reply “YES” or “NO” to verify whether a transaction was authorized.
The text claims to be from a well-known company like Amazon, offering a free gift card or reward.
- Check the domain name closely. The easiest way to tell that you’re on a fake website is when the domain name doesn’t match the official website for the company.
- Look for a padlock symbol (but don’t trust it as a sole means of verification) All web browsers (such as Safari, Firefox, and Google Chrome) show whether a site has what’s called a “security certificate.”
- Use a website checker or safe browsing tools. A website checker helps you answer if a website is safe to visit. For example, it tells you if the site uses encryption to protect your data, along with the site’s level of verification certificate.
- Look for poor spelling, design issues, and other red flags. Scammers move quickly and often don’t want to take too long building fake websites (which could be identified as fraudulent and get taken down).
Feb 14, 2021 · Plug dodgy URLs into a URL-checking website like CheckShortURL. Contact the legit organization or entity the URL claims to be from. Never click a link with a typo or a misspelled word. Make sure your computer/browser software is up to date.
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Step 3: Report the scam or fraud. Report the scam or fraud to your local police and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Gather all records you have of the fraud or scam, such as: correspondence with the scammer (for example, letters, emails, text messages) financial statements. receipts.
