A CONSUMER expert has revealed the one way to tell if a text message is a scam.
Fraudsters have been targeting mobile phone users with texts that, at first glance, appear to be from delivery companies or government institutions.
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Texts often ask you to pay missed delivery charges or tax fees and are sent from numbers that claim to belong to Royal Mail, Hermes or HMRC.
But Alice Beer has revealed exactly what red flags to look for.
She told This Morning’s Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby that people need to be extra careful during the cost-of-living crisis.
She said: “There’s Covid vaccine scams going around this week. I’m eligible next week and I got a fake scam text this week.
“You don’t have to engage. Be the active one. Don’t engage; don’t let them in the door.
“There’s British Gas ones going around at the moment. This is the one I got last week. A debit failure.
“We’re all fluctuating our accounts at the moment; it’s perfectly feasible that my direct debit didn’t go out.”
Ms Beer outlined some of the signs that the messages are fake.
She said: “Sense of urgency, dodgy link, asking for information, dodgy email address – they are all warning signs. Don’t get conned, please!”
It comes after Martin Lewis has warned that Brits are making the same mistake when it comes to scam emails and texts – and it could cost them.
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He has told anyone getting scam messages to ignore them rather than actively unsubscribe, as it could put them in a position where fraudsters have access to their info.
Many Brits will understandably find scam messages annoying, if not worrisome.
So an option to remove themselves from receiving the unsolicited notices seems like the best route to go down.
But Martin Lewis has said you shouldn’t click the option in the email to unsubscribe or reply to the text with whatever it’s told you will remove you from the database.
That’s because doing so will only let the fraudsters know that they definitely can reach you on that address or number as you’ve just used it.
