(Radio Iowa) – Iowans are being warned about a new type of phone scam called “smishing.” It’s similar to “phishing” except now crooks are using text messages to try and get you to give up your personal financial information. Paul Benda, a cybersecurity officer with the American Bankers Association, says people should know not to reveal sensitive information like their passwords and Social Security numbers, even if the source appears legitimate.

“They’ll send a text that looks like it comes from your bank. It may look exactly like texts you’ve seen in the past, and it’s a fraud alert asking you if you’ve made a purchase. You hit ‘Yes’ and someone then immediately calls your number and then tries to convince you that they’re from your bank,” Benda says. “So the challenge we’ve got is that a lot of times, the caller ID even shows the name

“They’ll talk you through, they’ll sound very professional, and then they’ll start asking for your details,” Benda says. “They’ll ask for you to confirm your username, your login, and things your banks would never ask. Then they’ll send you that one-time passcode because they’re logging in ‘on your behalf,’ and then they’ll ask you for that passcode and again, your bank’s never going to ask you for that passcode. Once they’ve got that, they’ve got access to your account.”

Iowans should recognize there’s a red flag when the supposed bank representative asks for your account information — which that representative should already have. “They’re going to try and pressure you. They’re going to try and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to close your account unless you respond.’ Your bank is never going to break up with you over text,” Benda says. “The other thing is, they might ask you to send money to yourself. ‘Oh, to protect your account here, we’re going to have you send money to yourself using your cell phone number.’ Your bank’s never going to ask you to send money to anyone.”
The Federal Trade Commission says Americans lost more than 5.8-billion dollars to phishing and other fraud in 2021, an increase of more than 70-percent compared to 2020.