02/07/2025
Happy Friday from Tailwind Title & Escrow!
Today we want to call attention to the latest text scam we have noticed. This comes in the recognizable form of a fraud alert. A text purportedly from your financial institution identifying a potential fraudulent charge in your account. These texts are are commonly legitimate as well though, and of great use to stop fraud in real time. So how do we separate the fraud from the tool?
In this real example sent to one of our agents, four red flags stand out. First, the number is a ten digit number. These alerts commonly come from 5 or 6 digit numbers, known as short code texts. This is how a portal or mass text should arrive. Second, always check your activity independently. Go to a computer, other device or browser on your phone and check the account activity. When legitimate alerts are triggered, you will see the activity in your account. Even if not charged, you will typically see the charge in some form while the alert is pending. We saw no such charge. With these two flags, we knew we most likely had an illegitimate text. We did however send the response, knowing there would be more information to share here with you. The third flag is that the response was not instant. When you respond to a fraud alert, the reply is instant. This tells us a human is behind the text. An "N" reply should also deactivate your card on the spot and say so. The last flag was the notice they would call. Your financial institution will not do that here. They will tell you in so many words, "Your card is off, call us." We did get a call. With only the response of "Hello", The caller started asking litany of questions, at which point we disengaged, blocked and reported.
If you come across this, do inform your institution. It is easy to move on knowing we dodged the scam, but these attempts can be the result of stolen client data or even inhouse fraud by employees. Prompt reporting can help protect others in your community and save you money in the long run, as we all pay for fraud in the end.
Until the next time, be safe and be prosperous!