TECH BYTE: Tips for dodging phishing scams

(41NBC/WMGT) — Criminals are getting more creative, to make it easier to scam you. Now they’re using text messages to do it.

A 2021 data breach report by Verizon, shows 36 percent of data breaches are caused by phishing scams. These crooks might be trying to steal your data over the phone, but they don’t have to succeed. The Better Business Bureau says if you get a text that looks suspicious, just ignore it. It doesn’t take much for scammers to get useful information. The BBB’s Michele Mason spoke on the matter “If someone sends you a text message that has a link, just by visiting a website that you’re not familiar with could unleash spyware or malware into your phone or your computer without your awareness.” Mason also says the legality of spam text messages varies depending on the sender’s goal

“There are laws that govern communications with you, and if you opt out of someone contacting you, the sender should always make sure they follow through with that, and that would allow you to go ahead and file complaints,” said Mason “In reality, whenever you get a message, we actually discourage people from responding, because part of it could be just them making money off of the fact that they know that they have a live person on the other end, and they just sell your information to someone else.” Scammers can also pose as your bank, or a government agency. Mason says that if that happens, it’s best to just contact your bank or sender directly before responding to a suspicious message, to make sure it’s them.

Verizon says people in the U.S. lost $86 million in 2020 from text phishing alone. You don’t want to be a part of that statistic in 2022.