Smishing

A form of phishing carried out through texting, where scammers pose as a trusted contact to obtain sensitive information.

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The term smishing combines SMS + phishing. A text scam may use something urgent like "Your account is locked" to trick victims into clicking harmful links.

Recent trends

Many Americans spend hours a day on their phones, and scammers are taking advantage. Because people respond faster to texts, criminals are imitating delivery updates, bank alerts, and even government notifications in text messages or apps like WhatsApp. AI helps scammers craft messages that mimic legitimate ones, making it harder than ever to tell them apart.

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Smishing

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