Text Scams

Text scams are sent to your phone and take a variety of formats.

Many will appear to be from an institution claiming that you owe them money from an unpaid debt (such as a road toll) and to tap on a link to prevent some undesirable action from taking place.

NEVER TAP ON THE LINK!

If you have any doubts, go directly to the institution's website and check out the facts there.

Another common one pretends to be from your daughter or son, who has lost their phone and are texting you from a friend's phone (which is why you don't recognize the number). They need a financial bail-out and ask you to transfer funds to their account (see attached details or tap on the link).

DON'T DO IT!

Your protection here is to know your children's bank account details. Not the password, just whatever is necessary to transfer funds. Keep them handy in the contact details on your phone and check them before doing any transfers. That way, you'll recognize the fake account details. And if you're in any doubt, you can always transfer the requested funds to the genuine account.