LifeLock Blog

I am sure you have heard of a phishing scam, well what about a smishing scam? A smishing scam is similar to a phishing scam but it take place over SMS on your mobile phone. Many banks now a days will deliver SMS messages to your phone informing you of various things happening with your accounts. Scammers take advantage of this and I’ll show you what the scam looks like and what to lookout for.

The scam starts with a text message about your mobile phone. They are usually pretty vague about the bank name and any specific information. Many times they simply say that your account has been locked and to call a number for assistance. When you call the number the scammers ask you for your bank information and you give it to them because you think someone has gained access to your account. What you have just done is give the scammers your information so they can steal from you.

Scammers will send text messages to random phone so even if you haven’t subscribed to text alerts you could still receive one. This should be your first note of suspicion, if you haven’t subscribed to text alerts the bank shouldn’t be sending you anything. I know with my bank the texts always come from the  same number, so it’s unlikely the scam message would have come from the same number. If you think the message is real call your bank but use a number you know is real and not the one in the message.



Utah has a big problem with criminals or illegal immigrants concealing their identity by using someone else’s SSN to obtain a job. Children are a big target for this because they don’t work themselves so wouldn’t notice someone else filing taxes and collecting returns using their name.

Utah Governor, Gary Herbert, signed a bill that would require businesses that have 15 or more employees to verify the identity of all new hires. He as going to schedule a special session to amend the bill to make it optional for the first year, but has decided to cancel the special session and leave the bill alone. The bill is supported by the public and legislators, who want it left alone or even strengthened at the special session. Because of the support of the public and legislators the Governor and Businesses were forced to lay off and cancel the special session to prevent even stricter rules from being added.

I think this is great news for Utah. They have the opportunity to prevent to not only prevent identity theft of children and adults alike, but also the opportunity to prevent sexual predators and criminals from concealing their identity as well. This is a big step to preventing Identity theft in the job market, which is a good thing for all people not trying to do something illegal.

Facebook is a great place to connect with friends and family and stay connected and communicate. Scammers also know this and will try and use that to their advantage. Facebook scams and distress scams are not a new thing but putting them together is a bit of a change and the public is starting to see them more ofter.

A distress scam is a scam where the thief will pose as your friend or family member and tell you that they have been robbed and need you to send them money. They typically say that are in another country  and need you to use Western Union to send them money. This scam has been going on for some time but adapting this scam to Facebook makes things a little more interesting.

A scammer gets a hold of your friends Facebook account and uses the Facebook chat to IM you. They tell you the whole story about being in London, or some other country, and how they got robbed and have no money or phone to use. They ask for a wire transfer and I think you know how the rest of the scam goes.

Of course this sounds outlandish to people who are use to the internet, but scammers use the information on your Facebook page to target someone who might fall for it like the elderly. They have all the information they need to find someone that might just send the money before confirming the story is true.

So know what to look for and don’t be taken advantage of. If someone tries this scam on you I would try and confirm the person is even in the country they are claiming to be in! You could also ask the scammer things that only that person would know and is not present on their Facebook page. This is sure to throw the scammer for a loop and most likely make them cut bait and run.

You should contact the person who had their account hacked and tell them to take back control of it, so no one else will be affected.

If you have ever worked in retail or food service industry you have probably heard of secret shoppers or mystery shoppers that come into your store and purchase items from your establishment. They are payed by the companies to rate the quality of the store as well as the service. It’s a pretty sweet deal for the secret shoppers they get paid to go somewhere and buy stuff, but how does one become a secret shopper? The answer isn’t a straight forward one and that is perhaps why secret shopper scams are easy to pull off.

According to the FBI the scam starts by being contacted by email or US mail to apply to be a mystery shopper. Applicants are asked to submit a resume and are told are subject to a background check. The victims are then sent a check to be cashed that will be used to purchase items from retail locations and often times wire transfer locations. The remaining balance from the check is given to the victim as payment. What the victim doesn’t know is that the check they were sent was counterfeit and they are responsible for the total amount of the bad check.

In other versions of this scam victims are asked for bank account information so their payments can be deposited automatically. This of course is not true and know the thief has access to their bank account and can withdraw money.

Things to lookout for! Real secret shopper businesses will never pay you in advance and will never ask for a portion of the money back via wire transfer or any other means. A legitimate company will not charge application fees and will not accept applications online. Do your research and find out what legitimate companies hire secret shoppers. Don’t respond to unsolicited emails and never follow their links.

Theres pre-cautions should keep you safe from this particular scam, and others like it. It’s always a good idea to be a skeptic when it comes to the internet. Believe it or not everything you see on the internet isn’t real.