Phone and text message scams

As email filters have improved, many scams have moved to phone calls and text messages. They use the same tricks as phishing emails, urgency, authority and fear, but a voice or a text on your personal phone can feel more convincing. The good news is that one simple habit defeats nearly all of them.

The common scripts

A caller claims to be from Microsoft, your bank, your internet provider or your IT company and says your computer is infected or your account is about to be closed. A text says a parcel could not be delivered and asks you to pay a small fee. A message that seems to come from your manager asks you to buy gift cards urgently or to keep a payment confidential. A caller asks you to read back a code that has just been sent to your phone, saying it is to "verify" you. Increasingly, the voice on the line can even sound like someone you know, because short clips of a person's voice are easy to copy.

The rule that stops them

If a call or message asks you to pay, share a code, install something or give access, stop and contact the person or company yourself using a number you already have, not one given to you in the call or message. A genuine caller will not mind. A scammer will push harder, which tells you all you need to know.

Codes are never for sharing

A sign-in code or approval prompt is the key to your account. No real organization will ever ask you to read one out. If someone asks, hang up.

Calls claiming to be from us

We never call out of the blue asking to connect to your computer, and we never ask for your password. If you are not sure a call is really from us, hang up and call 855-248-2637.

If you already responded

Tell us straight away. If you paid something, call your bank as well. If you gave a code or installed something, we will secure your account and check the computer. Acting quickly matters far more than how it happened.