New FTC Data Spotlight highlights text scams that may target your business

According to the FTC’s latest Data Spotlight, text scam losses are skyrocketing. In 2024 people reported $470 million in losses to text scams, more than five times the amount reported in 2020. Check out the Data Spotlight for more information.

Want to help your employees spot and avoid the most common text scams highlighted by the Data Spotlight? Check out the FTC’s Consumer Alertwith details and advice.

Here are a few examples of text scams that may be particularly likely to target your business:

• Fake fraud alerts. If you get an urgent text about “suspicious activity” or a large purchase you don’t recognize on your business credit card or bank account, it could be a scam. The text might look like it’s from your financial institution and include a phone number to call. But people who respond report getting connected to scammers who pressure them to move money out of their accounts, supposedly to keep it safe. Those “safe spaces” end up being under the scammer’s control, and people who move their money don’t get it back.
• Bogus unpaid toll notices. If you manage your business’s fleet, you may be on high alert for tolls, parking tickets, or other related expenses. Don’t be tricked by an unexpected text saying there’s a toll balance to pay, even if the text looks like it’s from your local highway toll program. In reality, there’s a good chance it’s scam, there’s no toll owed, and if you click the link in the text, you may be asked to hand over financial information.
• Phony job opportunities. Impersonators may use your business’s good name to offer people fake job opportunities through unsolicited texts offering pay for repetitive tasks like rating products or apps. Impersonators hurt consumers and honest competitors, and the Rule on Impersonation of Government and Businesses gives the FTC enhanced tools to stop them. If you learn someone is posing as your business to scam people, the FTC wants to hear about it. Tell us what happened at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

To protect yourself, your employees, and your business from text scams:

Don’t click on links or respond to unexpected texts. If you don’t recognize the texter or expect the communication, stop and do your due diligence. Run a search for the business that claims to be contacting you, and call or email the business directly using contact information you know is correct or find on its verified website. Don’t click the link or call the number in the text.

Pause for a moment. One of the top tricks in the scammer playbook is to apply pressure to act quickly. If someone you don’t know texts to say there’s an urgent problem or demands you pay immediately, take a minute to do some research and check in with someone you trust.