Friendly Computers always recommends being very cautious when replying to email or website that you are not positive came from legitimate companies that you do business with. We also wanted to warn you about new text messaging scams which will also try to get you to provide personal information. Read below to learn about text messaging scams:
Cyber scammers are banking on the notion that many people who may not fall for a phishing scam via e-mail may still be easy targets through their mobile phone, according to security report Cisco released on Tuesday.
Text message scams are on the rise, particularly fake messages that appear to come from a legitimate bank, said the report, which covers a wide variety of cyber crime topics.
In many of the scams, the SMS messages direct the recipient to call a telephone number where an automated message prompts the caller to provide login ID or account number and PIN. Other messages provide a URL that leads to a phishing site looks like a legitimate site.
Specific scams have targeted cell phone users in Fargo, North Dakota and First Community Credit Union, Buffalo Metropolitan Federal Credit Union in New York and BCT Federal Credit Union customers in New York and Pennsylvania, the report said.
"People are giving up information through the voice channel in a way they never would do through e-mail or the Web," said Patrick Peterson, Cisco chief security researcher.
Meanwhile, cyber criminals are continuing to get more sophisticated and borrowing from real-world business models. For instance, researchers have come across a service called VirTest that will test malware and viruses against products from the major anti-virus vendors for a fee, Peterson said.
