Never click on a link or call a number in a text message.
Your smartphone dings, and you look to see if your grandson has texted you back. Instead, you find a message from a toll road saying you owe money. What does this mean?
Toll road texts are just one of many ways that nefarious people try to scam you. The point is to scare you into giving your credit card number or, worse, your Social Security number, to the fraudster. There are many other scams that you need to watch out for that are even more aggressive when it comes to picking your pocket.
How Text Scams Work
According to the Federal Trade Commission, in 2024, consumers reported losing $470 million due to text scams. This amount is five times higher than what was reported in 2020.
