Wednesday, July 29, 2015

spam scam TXT messages

It's no longer just email SPAM, it's TXT message spam and more.

If you get a TXT message telling you your mobile account has been suspended, click here to log in and fix it, DON'T. If your service has been suspended, you are not getting any messages of any kind.

If you get text messages about your credit card being suspended, or something like that, call the credit card company using the number on your card. Do NOT just click these links and start filling in with your name and password.

This might be shocking, but the surface text does not reflect where a link really goes. For example, if you click on this: http://nbc.com will go to somewhere else (try it !). On some smartphones, if you do a "long press" put your finger and hold it, it will show where the link will go if you were to tap it.

For AT&T, http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB115812&cv=820  you can report TXT SPAM by forwarding it to 7726 (spell out SPAM).   There is no charge and it does not count against your text usage or data plan.

Even though the title says "block" I cannot see the explanation of how to actually prevent the sender from future messages.  Perhaps if enough reports come in, the sender is eventually blocked.