Smishing Emerges Again, Making Many Victims in Seattle

Smishing makes a glorious comeback after reports revealed that the phenomenon recorded a decrease in popularity among cybercriminals.

The term refers to a form of phishing that utilizes text messages to gain the trust of the victims in the attempt to get their personal information.

Because the scam hit Seattle last week, local authorities were quick to act and started alerting citizens about the possible dangers that hide behind a simple text message or a phone call.

Dan Sytman of the attorney general's office, revealed "They want your account information and they're eager to use whatever technology they can to attain it."

In just a few days the State Attorney General's office learned of 100 complaints regarding phone calls or text messages that seem to come from certain banks.

The crooks, pretended to represent the repository and alerted the victims of a breach which affected their accounts. They were quickly redirected to someone who asked for information on such as account and PIN numbers, credit card codes and passwords.

State Attorney General Rob McKenna warned consumers that when they're in doubt, they should contact the bank directly, not just trust anyone who's trying to sell them a story.

“Flip over your credit or ATM card and call the number on the back. If there's a problem with your account, that's the best way to find out," he revealed.

Cyber masterminds will do anything to gain your trust and that's why you have to be cautious about any note that you receive related to your financial assets. Remember never to give out over the phone or email security codes, usernames, account numbers.

Some people presume that identity thieves work only on the internet, but they couldn't be more wrong. Because a phone intervention could gain your trust faster, the method is being preferred by villains over the classic email scams.