SmishingNot Even Your Phone Is Safe from Fraudsters!

How You Can Identify & Prevent “Smishing,” or SMS Text Scams

An email appears in your inbox at work. It’s from your boss, claiming that a vendor — one you know the company uses — is saying you must pay for a shipment now, or a crucial order will be canceled. Your “boss” instructs you to forward him the details for one of your company’s accounts to make the payment.

You don’t panic, though. Why? Because you’ve already learned to recognize the red flags of phishing.

This is a common trick that fraudsters use to get you to download malicious software, send money, or disclose sensitive information. Luckily, you’re smart enough to know not to take the bait.

However, what if you got the exact same message, but sent as a text, rather than as an email? Would you respond the same way?

So-called “smishing” attacks can be just as dangerous as email phishing. From the fraudster’s perspective, though, it can be a much more effective technique, as most targets don’t know how to respond.

What is Smishing?

Smishing

[noun]/s • miSH • əng/

Smishing is the fraudulent practice of using fake text messages in an attempt to steal confidential information, such as passwords or credit card numbers.

Smishing is a portmanteau of “SMS” and “phishing.” As the name implies, it’s a kind of phishing attack, but instead of targeting victims through emails or websites, smishing relies on mobile (SMS) text messaging. It’s just one more way for fraudsters to turn technology against both consumers and businesses. 

Some smishing messages are obviously scams. For example, imagine that a person you’ve never met, and who has no connection to you, sends you a text asking for a “favor.” The favor involves restricted personal or company information such as credit card numbers. It’s an obvious scam, and few people would fall for that.

Other fraudsters are sneakier. The sender is realistic; for instance, they’re posing as a coworker, or a manager from another department. The request is in the voice of the person they’re impersonating, too. If it’s worded carefully, the message may convince you that it’s authentic.

What are Smishing Scammers After?

Scammers are usually looking for personally identifying information (PII) or sensitive payment information, other fraudsters are more cunning. For example:

• Credit card or online account credentials
• Banking or other financial info
• Work login passwords and usernames
• Internal business directories
• Social Security numbers
• ZIP codes
• Customer or vendor lists

Yes; even something like a vendor list would allow them to target specific individuals in the company, like the CEO or CFO.

How Do Smishing Attacks Work?

Smishing attempts can come from standard messaging apps, non-SMS messaging like WhatsApp, or even through social media messaging. Attacks targeting businesses can, in some cases, use a company directory to make the messages seem more legitimate.

Smishing scammers may use a series of lies to convince their victims to give up their personal information. Fake overdrawn account warnings, unpaid toll notifications, emergencies from an impersonated loved one, bogus order confirmations, and false promises of free gifts are all common.

No matter the fake premise, the actual smishing attack itself typically occurs in one of three ways:

Real-World Examples & Case Studies

Let’s be clear: smishing is not a hypothetical threat. A single scam can cost you thousands of dollars. For many victims, these losses are permanent, irreversible, and devastating.

Below, we've outlined a few high-profile examples to help illustrate the problem in practical terms:

Nebraska Woman Loses $14,000 to Smishing Scam

In April 2025, an 83-year-old woman received a text message from a scammer posing as a representative from the victim’s bank. The fraudster claimed to have detected unauthorized activity on the victim’s credit card. The victim was then persuaded to resolve the issue by transferring over more than $14,000 to the scammer through a Bitcoin ATM.

How to protect yourself: If you get a text about suspected fraudulent activity on a debit or credit card, never call that number back. Go online, look up your bank’s official toll-free number, and dial that number instead. Always place an outbound call to your bank; never accept inbound calls from anyone claiming to be a bank representative.

Facebook Smishing Scam Costs Pennsylvania Man His Retirement Savings

In June 2024, a 70-year-old Pennsylvania resident was contacted by a scammer on Facebook. Purportedly named Libby Collins, the fraudster repeatedly reached out via the social media platform.

Although the man initially ignored her, he eventually gave in, sending the scammer $2,000 for a supposed investment. Later, the fraudster returned the money, saying that the investment didn’t work out. This manipulative action was done to gain the man’s trust; after all, if it were a scammer, why would they return the money? The answer is that the scammer was after a much bigger payoff.

The victim eventually sent the scammer $161,000 in funds; the totality of his life savings. Then, the fraudster vanished. According to LancasterOnline, the man was part of a long-term scam that dealt more than half a million dollars in losses to seven different victims. Now destitute, the victim was forced to move out of his Pennsylvania apartment, sell his Volkswagen Jetta, and relocate to Thailand to make ends meet.

How to protect yourself: Do not send money to strangers you meet on the internet, no matter how convincing their stories may be. Be skeptical and recognize that any attempts to gain your trust are likely manipulative. If you engage, the final result will invariably be the same: the scammer makes off with your money and leaves you empty-handed.

How Smishing Impacts Businesses

Smishing can be a real nightmare for businesses.

Instead of targeting random individuals, hackers target employees of a specific business, then try to trick those employees into giving away sensitive information. The scams are simple: a cybercriminal may pose as a company executive asking for an account number, or telling an employee to pay an invoice from their own account. If this sort of attack is successful, it can have a major, long-lasting impact on the business’ reputation and financial future. You could see:

• Business disruption
• Loss of customer confidence (especially in cases of data breach)
• Loss of company value/investors
• Reputational damage with vendors, banks, etc
• Potential fines and fees (in cases that involve theft of customer data)
• Loss of intellectual property, research findings, trade secrets, or proprietary designs.

How Big of a Problem is Smishing?

Smishing already poses a huge threat, but that threat is growing as people spend more time communicating on their devices. In some cases, it may even work better than conventional phishing. This is true for a variety of reasons:

Red Flags of Smishing

One of the most important steps in smishing protection is to recognize some of the warning signs. For businesses, this means making sure your staff is aware of some of the triggers.

Obviously, none of these conclusively prove that a message is fraudulent. But, when taken together, they might be cause for closer examination:

1. Suspicious Sources: Legitimate companies and established businesses typically text using a shortcode; a five or six-digit number that doesn’t designate where the call is from. Regular numbers or unknown caller IDs point to a smishing attempt.
2. Non-Standard Links: The goal of most smishing is to get the victim to click a link to a facsimile website. So, as a rule, it’s best to never follow unsolicited text links. Even if a text seems legitimate, you’re better off contacting the alleged company via phone or email.
3. Extreme Urgency: Smishers want you to believe that immediate action is required. They’ll often claim that, without an immediate response, your account will be closed or legal action will be taken against you. Stop for a moment and consider if the immediacy makes sense.
4. Spelling/Grammatical Errors: Multiple spelling errors could indicate a non-professional source. Awkward sentence structure may mean English is a second language for the sender; since a good share of fraud originates from outside the US, this should be a red flag.
5. Asking for Private Information: No legitimate, professional institution will require usernames, passwords, financial details, transaction amounts, or internal company information being sent via text or SMS.
6. Emotional Messages: Smishing masters will often try to play on people’s emotions with bogus stories of a family member’s plight. They may claim to be calling from prison or a hospital with a realistic-sounding story to make a request for money.
7. Unexpected Prize or Gift Offers: “Random giveaways” are clear warning signs of possible smishing activity. Fraudsters often offer some benefit or reward; gift cards, for example. They only need a credit card number for shipping or handling.

How to Defend Against Smishing Attacks

So, what should you do if you receive a strange text message, and suspect it may be a smishing attempt? Here are a few recommendations:

• Respond Visa Official Channels: If you have any doubts at all about a text’s legitimacy, contact the alleged sender directly using official channels.
• Don’t Engage: Any prompt to reply, even something as simple as texting “STOP” to unsubscribe, can be a trick to identify active phone numbers.
• Check the Phone Number: Does the sender’s number seem legitimate? Scammers have an entire range of tactics to mask their phone numbers.
• Slow down: Stop and consider urgent account updates and limited-time offers. Is it really important to act in that moment? Does the threat make sense?
• Use SMS Firewalls: Install security hardware and software to protect your mobile devices and networks from malicious or unwanted SMS messages.
• Enable Sender ID Protection: Security features like Sender ID Protection can help authenticate and verify that the sender is who they say they are.
• Educate Your Customers: Fraud awareness training can prevent customers from falling victim to common smishing attacks.
• Set Expectations: Consistent security notices (e.g. “we’ll never ask you for your username or password”) can help buyers discern between real and what’s not.
• Deploy Fraud Monitoring Tools: Authentication apps, when combined with CAPTCHA protections and device fingerprinting technologies, can make it harder for attackers to carry out scams.
• Use Consistent Branding in SMS Marketing: Keep your texting style, color scheme, and visual identity constant so that customers have confidence a text is really originating from you.
• Stay Compliant: Get consent and provide clear and regular opportunities to opt-out of texts. Don’t send texts outside normal business hours, and don’t contact numbers listed on the National Do Not Call Registry.

The threat from smishing continues to grow, and that probably won’t change. But, there is no better tool to use against smishing than education. You need to teach yourself, as well as your employees, to identify, report, and negate smishing threats.

Of course, there’s a lot more to fraud prevention than identifying smishing attacks. True fraud prevention and risk mitigation require a more comprehensive approach. If you’d like to know more, contact Chargebacks911® today.