Text scams, spam rampaging across smartphones now

Some 19 billion sent in June; that's 60 for every person in U.S.; scam roundup

The above messages are all fake; they all landed on my smartphone in the past couple of days. You've probably seen them, or texts just like them.  If they feel relentless, that's because they are.  According to Robokiller.com, Americans received 19 billion fake texts in June.  Just in June! That's more than 60 for every person in the U.S.  And I have to say, that feels about right.

That text about unpaid tolls above is pretty convincing; you'll see lots of local news stories about it in Washington State right now.  The toll scam has been making the rounds for most of summer driving season (Thanks, ITRC).  It highlights something that I wish attracted more focus: drivers are rightly paranoid about facing outrageous, gotcha fines from local toll authorities, which puts them on heightened alert for messages like these.  Outrageous fines create fertile ground for scammers to plant their seeds.

Of course, they couldn't plant 19 billion seeds a month without the help of large tech companies, who aren't helping consumers here. Despite constant lip service about the problem (see this 2023 FCC announcement), clearly the carriers aren't doing enough.

Sure, it's important to educate consumers about these kinds of scams, and I will try to continue to do my part. I’m glad some of these scam messages come with warning labels. But we need larger solutions here, and they begin with the companies that enable this kind of crime with the tools they build.

Here's a few more things to look out for right now:

Fake Chinese police threaten immigrants

"China’s embassies around the world have issued public warnings about police impersonation scams, as has the FBI after a number of cases in the US. One elderly woman in Los Angeles reportedly handed over $3m, believing it would stop her extradition." These stories are so tragic; We interviewed a victim of this scam for The Perfect Scam podcast last year. 

Electricity shutoff notices

"A WTOP listener recently shared that a fraudulent caller told a customer that a Pepco technician was on the way to shut off service unless the customer paid through Zelle or with a Walmart gift card."

Utility company scams fall under the general heading of "government impersonation scams." They aren't new, but they are very persuasive, particularly if you are worried you'll lose air conditioning during one of the worst heat waves in recent memory. If you get a call or message like this, disconnect and visit your utility company webpage "manually" to check on your account. (Manually = type WWW.ELECTRICCOMPANY.COM in the address bar of your web browser)

IRS warning about bogus tax credits

"In this latest scam, the IRS is seeing instances where unscrupulous tax return preparers are misrepresenting the rules for claiming clean energy credits under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)....'This is another example where scammers are trying to use the complexity of the tax law to entice people into claiming credits they’re not entitled to,' said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel."

This is new to me, but another example of consumers being set up to fail.  Complex tax code=opportunity for criminals.

Seen a scam? Been a victim of a scam? Write to me