FBI warns about ‘smishing,’ next evolution of phishing

TAMPA, Fla. - Scam artists have now expanded into the world of text messages to try and fool people into giving up their personal information.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is warning people about ‘smishing,’ the next evolution in the scheme ‘phishing.’

Phishing involves fake emails designed to solicit personal information, which is then used to steal a person’s identity. Smishing is done the same way, except using text messages.

It’s called smishing because text messages are also known as Short Message Service, or ‘SMS.’

“Criminals use SMS to get you to reveal personal data about yourself,” said Mike O’Brien, senior vice president for business development at Syniverse Technologies in Tampa. Syniverse handles text message alerts for eight of the 10 largest banks in the country.

According to O’Brien, his company began seeing smishing four to five years ago. It peaked two years ago, O’Brien said.

Here is an example, provided by FightIdentityTheft.com , of a text message you might receive: “Important Notification/You have a new Credit Union message alert. Call now free (818) 859-1549 to hear it.”

If someone gets the text message and chooses to call the number, here is a link to an example of what the phone call might sound like: http://fightidentitytheft.com/blog/smishing-scam-audio-sample

Under the guise of verifying your account, the scammers will solicit many different parts of your identity, including your credit card number, the expiration date, your verification code, your pin number, your date of birth, or your social security number.

“So, it sounds like an official transaction took place, when in the meantime, they have a duplicate copy of your credit card and within 20 minutes can rack up thousands of dollars' worth of fraud,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien says text messages carry with them a sense of “urgency,” which perhaps makes it more likely people will see the text message and call the number. He also worries about older residents, who are not as familiar with text messages.

“If there’s any message asking you to call another number to verify your identity, your banks don’t do that,” O’Brien said.