This afternoon I received a text message from my sister.  We use the same credit union for our banking and she and her husband had just received the same text, supposedly from this credit union, notifying her of an “alert” on her account.  My sister is smart.  She was suspicious of this text.  She sent me a text message to see if I had received anything similar.  I had not.  Then I checked my account online to see if there were any alerts there.  Still nothing.  So then my sister called the credit union directly….not at the number that came in the text, but instead on a number she found on the credit union’s web site.  My sister’s suspicions were confirmed.  This was a phishing scam.

Crooks have gotten pretty clever with their attempts at identity theft.  Phishing scams are everywhere.  It could be a text from “your bank.”  Or an email from “your student loan servicer.”  A phone call from “Microsoft.”  A phone call from “the IRS.”  It’s everywhere.  Protect yourself.  Be suspicious.  Never just click on the link in the text or email.  Find a genuine phone number for follow up.  Never give out your personal information on a phone call that you didn’t make.  Never let someone who called you have remote access to your computer.  Be smart.  Be suspicious.  Don’t be scammed.