Smishing is a form of phishing that uses text messages (SMS + Phishing = Smishing), where bad actors pretend to be a legitimate organization in hopes of tricking the victim into visiting a fraudulent website, clicking on a link that downloads malware, or getting personal or account information.

While it can be helpful to get alerts from your credit union or credit card company regarding account activity, you need to be careful because bad actors also use these types of communication as part of their smishing attacks.

How to Identify Smishing Texts

Smishing texts usually contain several red flags including:

1. The sender wants you to do something, like click a link or call their number.
2. They want you to verify personal information, like your DOB, SSN, PIN or password.
3. There are links with unusual URL’s.  They will often attempt to create a URL that resembles legitimate websites, but often falls short.
4. It refers to you by a generic name, like member, customer or user, or your card holder status like platinum or ultra.
5. The message is often “urgent”.
6. The message references a transaction you didn’t make, in hopes that you immediately call or text to “fix the error.”

Below are two real world examples of bad actors imitating other credit unions via text messages.

If you look at the 3 messages, the verbiage was chosen deliberately.  They chose wording that invoke a sense of urgency.  They want you to react immediately, not giving you time to notice the red flags. 

If you were to click on the links, you may see something like the following:

If they are targeting a specific credit union or bank, they may create a login screen that looks exactly like the real one.

What to do if you receive a fraudulent text

The bad actors are getting better and more sophisticated with their attacks. To prevent yourself from falling victim to one of these scams, take your time and be skeptical.  Don’t automatically click on the link or even reply to the text message.  If you reply, even with a “STOP”, you are telling that scammer that they have reached a real person, and you may set yourself up as a target for future scams.  Call your Credit Union or Credit Card Company directly and confirm with them if it is legitimate or not.

The views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog  do not constitute legal or financial advice. The writers of these blogs are educated on the topics they are writing about, but they are not attorneys, licensed financial advisors, or registered investment advisors. The information presented in this blog post was deemed to be accurate at the time of publication. First Heritage Federal Credit Union is not responsible for any actions a person may take as a result of the information they read in this blog.