Over a decade ago, credit card companies started a service where they deny transactions while texting consumers about the activity in their account. Because consumers have become used to this service, fraudsters have used it as the inspiration for one of the most effective scams we have seen.

These type of scams are sometimes called “Imposter Scams” because they are trying to impersonate a trusted financial institution. When you receive a text message from banks where you have no accounts, services you have never subscribe to, warranties for cars you don’t own, or governmental services you are not receiving, the scam seems stupid. However, when the scammer gets lucky and finds a match, it can be hard to identify the scam as fraud.

We had a client receive a text message phishing for UVA Community Credit Union credentials. This is an example of a problem that can be as worrisome as it is prevalent.

In this case, the text message read:

UVA Community Credit Union: suspicious activity detected in your mobile banking, if this was not you? Please visit: https://.uvalogInsecure.weebly.com/. to secure your account Now.

This scam is sophisticated and efficient for the scammers. The fraudsters probably sent thousands of these messages without even knowing if the recipients actually have a UVA Community Credit Union account. The scam works because many people here in Charlottesville do, and if you have a UVA Community Credit Union account, the scam seems more legitimate.

Regardless of if text messages ever end up being real, you should always mistrust text messages you receive.

If a link is provided in a text message, don’t click it.

If a phone number is communicated in a text message, don’t call it.

Additionally, don’t reply to the text message. And if you do reply to it, don’t trust anyone who calls you about the topic. They are most likely a spammer attempting to trick you into thinking you are talking to someone legitimate.

If you do want to research the matter, call the number printed on the back of your credit card or printed on a bank statement.

Scammers are always becoming more sophisticated, but this scam has some obvious red flags.

First and foremost, it should be clear that the URL does not go to the UVA Community Credit Union. The destination that a URL goes to is only contained in the last portion of the URL, in this case that is weebly.com, a free website service provider. That being said, even if the URL looks legitimate, don’t click on the URL in a text message. Never. Instead, you can navigate to the right website through your saved bookmarks or a URL printed on a bank statement.

Additionally, the first sentence is a sentence fragment, not a complete sentence. The first word in that sentence should be capitalized. The question mark falls in the middle of the next sentence. And the word “now” should not be capitalized. Scammers often don’t have English as their first language and make these kinds of mistakes, which serve as additional red flags to remind you to be skeptical of text messages. But even if this text were in flawless English from a native articulate speaker, you should still always mistrust text messages you receive.

In this particular case the text message did not include suggesting to call a phone number, but that is another common scam technique. Never call the phone number suggested in a text message. Instead, call a phone number of record that you have for that organization. Or better yet, ignore the text message entirely and don’t call them at all.

Unfortunately, the more you interact with scam messages the more you will be targeted. Your phone number will be flagged as being “live” with an interactive person on the other end. Additionally, the tactic they used to get a reaction will be noted and likely to be used again.

These are all reasons why it is best to ignore strange text messages entirely. If you can’t ignore them and you are a client of ours, give us a call. I would be glad to help protect you from fraud.

Featured photo by Rob Hampson on Unsplash. Image has been cropped. Photo of text message used with permission.