Text scams alone cost US citizens at least $470 million in 2024, according to new data from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Because many scams go unreported, though, this dollar amount might be considerably more. The FTC illustrated this with a graph comparing the reported losses to the number of reports.
This demonstrates that not only the damage per reported incident went up considerably, but also the total amount of damage. It also implies that a lot of incidents went unreported since we find it hard to believe that the number of scams might have declined—all it takes is a look at any single week in news coverage on Malwarebytes Labs to find stories on new scams, old scams, repeated scams, and the no-good scammers behind them.
Top 5 text scams
While scams reach us in many ways, the FTC focused on text scams in their report. This are the five main culprits:
- Package delivery problems. These are usually phishing expeditions aimed at the target paying a small amount for a redelivery, but while they are paying, their credit card details or other sensitive data are stolen.
- Phony job opportunities. These often come in the form of task scams, but the main story line is that a scammer posing as a recruiter gets the victim to pay for something they “need” to get the job done, or to steal the victim’s personal data.
- Fake fraud alerts. The fake alerts come as texts about so-called suspicious activity or about a big purchase the victim didn’t make. These texts often look like they’re from a bank or large retailer. The scammers offer help and then pressure people into moving money out of their accounts to supposedly keep it safe, when in reality it goes straight to the scammers.
- Toll fee scams. These attempts come as an unexpected text message linking to a website pretending to belong to one of the US toll authorities, such as E-ZPass. The texts usually create a sense of urgency by telling you there is only a limited time left to act or there will be dire consequences. Typically the scammers are out to steal personal information and/or payment details.
- Wrong number scams. An unexpected message that looks innocent enough from someone you don’t know but they act as if they know you. The idea is to get the target to tell them they’ve got a wrong number and with that engage them in a conversation, which may lead to romance scams, pig butchering, or other investment scams.
Let’s work together to bring the numbers down
Malwarebytes Mobile Security offers Text Protection, a feature that alerts users about potentially malicious or scam text messages. This feature works by analyzing incoming messages from unknown senders, checking for signs of scams, phishing links, or other malicious content. If a message is flagged, Android users receive a notification, while iOS users have the message deleted.
iOS
To enable Text Message Filtering on iOS devices, go to the iOS Settings app and explicitly enable it in the under Messages > Unknown & Spam. This is required for iOS to communicate with Malwarebytes about text messages.
Android
- On the Mobile Security dashboard, toggle On Text Protection.
- Tap Go to settings to grant Malwarebytes permission to alert over other apps.
- Tap Give permissions, then tap Allow to allow the app to scan your text messages.
- Once both permissions are granted, the Text Protection feature is active.
It’s also important to report scams. For US Citizens, report to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and forward spam messages to 7726 to help your wireless provider spot and block similar messages.
We don’t just report on phone security—we provide it
Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Keep threats off your mobile devices by downloading Malwarebytes for iOS, and Malwarebytes for Android today.