How often do you send and receive texts? With the ever-increasing popularity of smartphones, most people likely have dozens, even hundreds, of text conversations each day – and scammers are waiting to take advantage of this. Many of them have begun impersonating the people or businesses you know and trust, including your bank, to trick you into divulging personal information that they can use for financial crimes. With bank text scams becoming more common, it can be difficult to know if the person you’re texting is who they say they are. And since FFB Bank uses text to communicate with you too, we’ve put together a guide to help you avoid getting tricked by text scammers.

How Does a Bank Text Scam Work?

In many cases of text scamming, the criminals will purposely make their texts sound urgent to get you to act quickly without thinking. A bank text scam is no different. They usually start with a message alerting you to a supposed unauthorized charge or other suspicious activity on your account. Once this text has your attention, scammers may ask you to take action by clicking on a link.

If you click on the link, you’re usually taken to a bank form and prompted to enter your personal information. While this form may appear to be real, it is actually controlled by scammers waiting to steal your identity. In addition, the links sent by scammers may contain malware which will allow them to access your device and steal further information for future financial crimes.

In other cases, a text scam may ask you to respond “yes” or “no” to validate a charge. The moment you reply to the text, you alert the scammer that you’ve fallen for their scheme. Now that they know you’re a cooperative victim, they might call you to try and get more information, such as your email address, bank login details, or account number. Any of the information they receive from you will be used to try and take money from your account, open new bank accounts in your name, or commit additional financial crimes.

How can I be sure it’s actually FFB Bank Sending me a Text Alert?

Many banks will often use text to help protect customers’ accounts and provide them with fast, convenient messages – including FFB Bank. Of course, every bank uses text differently so it’s important to understand why you might get a text alert from FFB.

At our bank, we will only use text for four reasons:

  1. To send you an authentication code or a security message. This way we can verify your identity and authorize a transaction.
  2. To send marketing promotions, so you can get details about our current offers, products, services, and events. This is a feature you can opt into.
  3. To send you financial alerts so you can track payment approvals, transactions, balance limits, and budget information.
  4. To verify transactions when fraud is suspected. Whenever there is activity on your account, we will send you the name of the person logged in, as well as the time and date an action was performed. You can contact the bank directly to report a fraudulent action.

Remember, if you’re questioning whether a text is truly from the Bank, you can always call our team at (559) 439-0200 and ask us to verify the message.

Red Flags of Bank Text Scams

Scammers often use a method called spoofing to make their calls and texts seem like they’re coming from an official or known number. When this happens, you may be more likely to see the text as legitimate. That’s why it’s even more important that you’re aware of the common red flags so you can be sure that the person you’re texting isn’t up to criminal activity.

  • Pause if the person you’re texting is asking for sensitive information such as your social security number, account numbers, or banking passwords.
  • Look out for unusual text formatting, typos, grammar or spelling mistakes, and other errors in the writing that signal it’s unprofessional.
  • Don’t take action if the sender is asking you to click on a link that is shortened or leads to a webpage that isn’t part of the bank’s official website.
  • Be cautious of texts containing unverified contact information such as email addresses or phone numbers. Scammers will often spoof official bank email addresses, so it’s always best to double-check the information provided against the information listed on the bank’s official website.
  • Don’t act if you’re asked to fill out an additional form or provide further information after receiving a suspected fraud verification text. At FFB Bank, we will never ask you to provide large amounts of sensitive information after sending one of these alerts.

Best Practices

To avoid falling victim to a text scam, here are some best practices:

  • Don’t Reply: When you see an unexpected, suspicious text from an unknown number, it’s best to proceed with caution. If you know the text is suspicious, you can choose not to reply to it and/or delete the text immediately. If you’re unsure whether or not the text is a scam, always contact your bank directly rather than responding to the text.
  • Report Fraud: To help stop scammers from committing fraud in the future, you can report any text scams to City National by emailing phishing@ffb.bank. Be sure to include the phone number or short code number that the text was sent from as well as the message it contained.
  • Secure Your Personal Information: Avoid providing any private information to a sender, such as your account logins and passwords, PIN numbers, CVC codes, social security number, etc. If you believe your information has been compromised by a scammer, then act quickly. Report the incident immediately and change your login, password, and PIN as soon as possible.