SKAGIT COUNTY- Texting Fraud

The Skagit County Sheriff’s Office has been warning the public about fraudsters sending text messages posing as banks or other financial institutions.

Normally, fraudsters and scammers will use emails or phone calls to contact potential victims. But contacting victims on their cell phones through a text message is relatively new for the Puget Sound region.

The scam is typical though. Q13 News cited one example. The text, claiming to be from Bank of America claimed that the recipient’s debit account had been locked. To unlock it, the recipient needed to click on a link. Often clicking on a link will take you to a web site that asks for your personal information or installs malware on your computer to take your personal information.

In this case she did not click on the link. She did check with Bank of America.

If you receive a message, via email, phone, or now text, from someone claiming to be from your bank, do not respond to it or click on any links that may be embedded in the message. Call your bank, using a known phone number, and report the message.

KCPQ TV:

http://q13fox.com/2016/08/12/new-scam-uses-texts-disguised-as-bank-alerts/?utm_content=buffera5f26&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Federal Trade Commission:

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/report-identity-theft-and-get-personal-recovery-plan-identitytheftgov?utm_source=govdelivery