Don’t Get Smished

Answer 1

When I can I try to let you know about financial scams. We all work too hard for our money to have somebody come along and con us out of it. There’s a new scam in town, maybe you’ve heard of it. It’s called Smishing. (Smishing is a portmanteau comprised of phishing and SMS. Phishing, it should be noted is also a portmanteau of phreaking and fishing. And, yep, phreaking is a portmanteau also. Technology is killing language, but that’s a bit off topic isn’t it?)

The way smishing works is you check your cell phone and find a text message letting you know that you’ve won something. A big tactic is to tell people they’ve won a Wal-Mart gift card. The catch is you just have to log onto a website they give you and fill in some personal information in order to claim your prize. The website is bogus, of course, and the personal information is used to steal your identity and if possible your money.

So what should you receive one of these messages? First and foremost, do not follow the instructions in the message. However they instruct you to provide it, they’re after your personal information. Secondly, if you want to try to stop these criminals from spreading their felonious messages to unsuspecting innocents you can forward the message to 7726 (That spells SPAM on a phone keypad.). That number has been set up by the major cell phone carriers so that they can be alerted to and follow up on reports of spam via SMS messaging.

If you’ve actually followed the instructions in one of these messages and disclosed your personal and financial information you will need to take immediate action to stop the criminals from destroying your credit, stealing your identity, and/or taking off with bags full of your cash. You should call the Federal Trade Commision at (877) 382-4357 – they should be able to get you started in fighting this crime. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to contact the three major credit bureaus also and alert them to the crime.