The Bossier Financial Crimes Task Force is warning residents about a trend in text scams recently reported in Bossier Parish. The text messages are disguised as delivery notifications from companies such as Amazon and FedEx but have bogus website links attached.
When clicked, some bogus links may automatically download malware, software that allows others access to your phone’s information, including personal data. Other links may take you to a customer satisfaction survey promising a free gift for completing the survey. The catch is that the site asks for a credit card number in order to receive the free item and then makes unauthorized charges to your card.
Detectives remind the public to never click on unfamiliar links. Block the sender if you can. If you are unsure of whether a message is fake, contact the online store directly through their home page, NOT through a suspicious link.
Phishing is a common practice in which criminals attempt to get personal information from a person by posing as a legitimate entity over the phone or by email. Smishing is doing so through short messaging service (SMS) or texts. The personal information could potentially be used to steal from that person.