Criminals are using new tactics to get to your information through text messages, also known as smishing.
In response, cell phone carriers are working to get to the bottom of this type of activity and are warning customers about the dangers of clicking on unfamiliar links.
Pesky fraudsters are on the prowl and the latest attempt seems harmless, but could present an open door for them to get to your personal information.
"It comes up as something pervasive to try and get you to click on it," said Michael Rohrbach, who tells NBC Connecticut that he's been receiving some of the fraudulent text messages. "Like you're going to get something out of it, or almost that your information was stolen previously."
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Smishing is scamming through text messages.
Verizon Wireless is one of the carriers working to cut down on these fraudulent messages that their customers are receiving.
The company issued this statement to NBC Connecticut:
"As part of a recent fraud scheme, bad actors have been sending text messages to some Verizon customers which appear to come from the customers’ own number. Our company has significantly curtailed this current activity, but virtually all wireless providers have faced similar fraudulent activity in recent months. We are actively working with others in our industry and with U.S. Law Enforcement as part of an investigation aimed at identifying and stopping these fraudsters and their illegal actions, and we will continue this work on behalf of our customers. We have no indication of any Russian involvement."
"Smishing is becoming more common and they can sometimes say that you've won something or this is a way to pay your bill," said Vincent Mangiacapra, associate vice president of technology at the University of New Haven. "We tell our students and our partners to just delete it, because nothing good is going to come through clicking on that link in your text message.”
Cybersecurity experts tell NBC Connecticut that these types of messages can come in different forms.
"As people have migrated communications from the email toward SMS and text messaging, so have the hackers," said David Sun, principal of CLA. "It’s the same, it’s just a different medium that they’re using, it’s the same con that these hackers are trying to get people to fall for.”
Verizon, along with cybersecurity experts, recommend not opening up messages from unknown numbers or emails.
