“Drive safely. Do you have time now?” is one of the latest text messages which I received recently on my mobile telephone from a number which is unknown to me. Watch out for this text message scam if you receive a similar message.
Watch Out For This Text Message Scam.
The text messages are a form of a practice that is known as phishing, which are attempts by nefarious individuals to attempt to get valuable information from their targets — in other words, “fishing” for details. Telephone numbers usually wind up on a bulk list as the result of a breach of data — which has been reported in numerous articles over the years here at The Gate With Brian Cohen — and are then obtained by marketers or scammers who use the telephone numbers for their own potential gain at the expense of the victim.
The text messages in the scam to which is being referred in this article are typically one or two lines and are purposely created with the goal of having them written in a friendly, casual, and conversational tone that is enough to persuade the target to reply, thinking that he or she is responding to a friend, relative, or colleague — but the telephone number is usually not a familiar one.
Keep in mind that if the text message is from a familiar source, it would not stand alone in its own new text message chain. Rather, it would be the most recent continuation of previous text messages from that familiar source.
Note that the text messages are just generic enough to seem like they could have been written by anyone. Wording or tone that is too specific could otherwise potentially cause someone to be suspicious.
What You Can Do
Never respond to a text message unless you are absolutely certain of from who and where it originated. Responding to an unrecognized telephone number validates and confirms that the telephone number is legitimate and can be potentially sold to numerous other lists — thereby exponentially increasing exposure of your telephone number to future attempts of scamming you.
Instead, click the Report Spam button below the text message on your mobile telephone — or report the unknown caller — and have the telephone number blocked and deleted from your mobile telephone. If the call was indeed legitimate, the caller will find another way to contact you.
Text messages could also contain what is known as malware, which can potentially infect your mobile telephone with a virus.
The Federal Trade Commission of the United States offers additional information on what you can do when someone attempts to compromise your information via “phishing”.
Final Boarding Call
Unfortunately, many people fall for these scams primarily because they are careless and do not take an extra couple of seconds to protect themselves. Do not be one of those people. Recognizing these scams is usually not all that difficult.
I knew immediately that the aforementioned text message I received was a scam because the area code was from Oregon; and I am currently not communicating with anyone in Oregon at this time.
I despise scams. They waste significant amounts of time, effort, and money.
Other scams which have been reported in articles here at The Gate With Brian Cohen include but are not limited to:
- Watch Out For This Mobile Telephone Scam: You Calling Yourself — and What You Can Do
- Can You Hear Me? Do NOT Say Yes. Avoid This Telephone Scam…
- Watch Out For This Federal Treasury Scam — and I Responded…
- Watch Out For This E-Mail Message Scam Using Your Old Password For Extortion — and What You Can Do
- Watch Out For Gift Card Scams
- These Five Scams Snare Even Seasoned Travelers?
- 14 Tips on What You Can Do to Prevent From Being Scammed by a Rental Car Company
- Watch Out For This Taxi Scam
- Five Hotel Scams Which Could Ruin Your Next Hotel Stay?
- Airbnb “Host” Scams: Protect Yourself With One Simple Step
Photograph ©2021 by Brian Cohen.
