How to Spot and Avoid Spam Texts
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Here's your money briefing for Friday, September 2nd. I'm J.R. Whelan for The Wall Street Journal. Remember all those robocalls you used to get?
Why are robotexts surging and how big is the problem?
Well, many of the fraudsters have moved on from dialing your number and are now bombarding us all with robotexts.
The aim of a lot of texts that include links is to get you to click on the link and input some personal or financial information that could be used to steal your identity. But there's also another form of text, which seem completely innocent. And there are lures.
That's our personal tech columnist, Nicole Nguyen. She's been looking into the sharp rise in spam texts. We'll talk with her about how you can spot a suspicious text and what your phone is doing to protect you from being scammed. That's after the break.
This podcast is brought to you by ReliaQuest. Cyber criminals are constantly attacking. They want your data. They want your identity. They want your innovation. ReliaQuest fortifies your business with agentic defense, AI that detects, contains, and eliminates cyber threats in minutes. It helps your security team move faster at the work that matters most to protect the business now and delivers insights to help them predict what's next. ReliaQuest, agentic defense for the enterprise. Learn more at ReliaQuest.com. That's R-E-L-I-A-Q-U-E-S-T.com.
If it seems like you've been getting more text messages that feel like they could be a scam, you aren't imagining it. Fraudsters are using texting as a way to try and swindle people out of their money. But it's not always easy to spot a fraudulent text. WSJ personal technology columnist Nicole Nguyen is here with tips to avoid being a victim of fake texts. Nicole, thanks so much for being with us. Hi, thanks. So, you know, Nicole, it seems like every day we get text messages from an unknown name or number. How big a problem have these robotexts become?
A very big problem. Over the past year, tech scams have increased tenfold to about 12 billion monthly spam texts, according to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
12 billion a month? Who's sending these texts? And why are these types of texts so dangerous?
A lot of these texts apparently are being sent by known robocall spammers. Another survey by a mobile network communications company called TNS estimates that 48% of robotexts are being sent from known robocall spammers. I think one reason why these texts are so dangerous and why we're so vulnerable to them is because we do receive a lot of legitimate robotexts on a daily basis from companies such as FedEx alerting you to a delayed delivery or verification codes from different apps. And some services even allow you to log in without a password and send you a text with a link instead.
But you see, that's the thing. There are actually legitimate robotexts that people receive amid the blizzard of text that they get all day long.
You have to be very vigilant. And a lot of these texts elicit urgency, you know, something like your account has been suspended or an upcoming package is being withheld because it requires a delivery fee. And another kind dangles a bait in front of you that is very alluring. For example, one recent scam said you were charged too much at Costco and this link purports to get your money back.
Yeah, a lot of these scam messages, they don't even look suspicious, right? So what's the danger in responding to messages like that?
The aim of a lot of texts that include links is to get you to click on the link and input some personal or financial information that could be used to steal your identity.
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