{"id":346,"date":"2018-01-10T15:02:43","date_gmt":"2018-01-10T15:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mardo.net\/?p=346"},"modified":"2019-02-21T05:52:43","modified_gmt":"2019-02-21T05:52:43","slug":"avoid-the-dangers-of-smishing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mardo.net\/?p=346","title":{"rendered":"Avoid the Dangers of \u201cSmishing&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\">A new form of scamming may be headed for your smartphone\u2014are you protected?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-347 size-medium\" title=\"stfrmcell\" src=\"https:\/\/mardo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/stfrmcell-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mardo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/stfrmcell-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/mardo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/stfrmcell-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/mardo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/stfrmcell.png 304w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Chances are you\u2019ve got security software on your PC to protect your emails against \u201cphishing\u201d\u2014 fraudulent messages that attempt to get you to reveal sensitive information such as account numbers and passwords.<\/p>\n<p>But now there\u2019s a new venue for these types of scams: your smartphone.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>What Is Smishing?<br \/>\n<\/strong>\u201cSmishing\u201d is phishing that\u2019s conducted over short message service (SMS)\u2014or your texts.<\/p>\n<p>The Pew Internet and American Life Project found that on average, mobile phone users send and receive approximately 40 text messages a day. That means at some point, you\u2019re likely to encounter smishing. And if your smartphone isn\u2019t secure, your personal information could be vulnerable.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Messages You Might Receive<br \/>\n<\/strong>Common smishing messages often appear to require immediate attention. They may take a format such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A message \u201cfrom your bank,\u201d telling you your account has been shut down and asking you to call a number to reactivate the account.<\/li>\n<li>A notification that you\u2019ve been signed up for a service and will be charged unless you take some form of action, such as visiting a bogus website.<\/li>\n<li>A confirmation of a purchase that directs you to call a number if the confirmation is inaccurate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you take the actions as prompted by these messages, you may be sending your personal information right to the scammer. Some programs will spread malware or a virus on your phone or PC. And others may give the scammers the means to eavesdrop on your phone calls.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How to Protect Yourself<br \/>\n<\/strong>If you get a text that\u2019s unsolicited or from an unidentifiable source, protect yourself with these tips:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If the message appears to be from a legitimate source, contact that source\u2019s main phone number\u2014not the number provided in the text\u2014and verify. Legitimate businesses, such as banks, do not send out texts that elicit a response.<\/li>\n<li>Delete messages from unknown sources without reading.<\/li>\n<li>Do not click on links or download apps from an unverified source.<\/li>\n<li>Never provide sensitive information to an unverified texter.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid messages that appear to come from the number 5000. This may be an identity that hides a scammer\u2019s real number. The message may have no number at all.<\/li>\n<li>Add security software to your mobile phone.<\/li>\n<li>Look into setting up a \u201ctext alias.\u201d This cell phone feature hides your actual phone number from the smishing sender.<\/li>\n<li>Contact your phone provider and alert it to the messages you\u2019ve been receiving.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To learn more or to file a complaint, contact the Federal Trade Commission at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ftc.gov\">www.ftc.gov<\/a> and visit the FTC\u2019s identity theft website <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/idtheft\">www.ftc.gov\/idtheft.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Source: Statefarm Ins., By SFLCAuthor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new form of scamming may be headed for your smartphone\u2014are you protected? Chances are you\u2019ve got security software on your PC to protect your emails against \u201cphishing\u201d\u2014 fraudulent messages that attempt to get you to reveal sensitive information such as account numbers and passwords. But now there\u2019s a new venue for these types of &hellip; <\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link btn\" href=\"https:\/\/mardo.net\/?p=346\">Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-front-page-slide","nodate","item-wrap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mardo.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mardo.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mardo.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mardo.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mardo.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=346"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mardo.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":634,"href":"https:\/\/mardo.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346\/revisions\/634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mardo.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mardo.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mardo.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}