The FBI has put Americans on high alert, warning them not to fall for a particular type of scam text messages, as security experts fear that Chinese cybercriminals are behind them.
The alert from the FBI came last April and advised people to delete any SMS messages on their cell phones that told them they had unpaid tolls.
The law enforcement agency explained that these are phishing attacks, or more precisely, smishing attacks since they are text messages instead of emails.
At the time, the FBI had more than 2,000 complaints about these scam messages and indicated that ‘the scam may be moving from state-to-state.’
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reminded Americans about the danger on January 17, warning that the scammers behind the texts are trying to get you to click the link in the message so they can steal your money and your personal information.
‘Don’t click on any links in, or respond to, unexpected texts. Scammers want you to react quickly, but it’s best to stop and check it out,’ the FTC advised.
Just last month, reports of people receiving these texts have come from Massachusetts, California, North and South Carolina, Illinois, Colorado, Florida and more, Forbes reported.
Even local governments are having to warn their citizens about these fake unpaid toll messages.