Can You Get Hacked by Replying to a Scam Text?

No, you cannot get hacked by replying to a scam text, but you can get hacked from a scam text if you click on a malicious link the scammer sends you. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Americans lost a total of $330 million from scam texts in 2022, making scam texts a serious threat to your online security. 

Continue reading to learn how to spot scam texts and the common scam text tactics that scammers use. 

What Is a Scam Text?

Scam texts, also known as spam texts or smishing, are text messages that are sent by scammers. Scammers may send scam texts to you from phone numbers you don’t recognize or use a spoofed phone number to make it seem as if the text message is coming from your area or someone you know like a family member, friend or coworker. 

The main goal of a scam text is to get the targeted victim to click on a malicious link or provide the scammer with personal information like credit card numbers or account login credentials. Clicking a malicious link sent by a scammer can automatically download malware onto your phone or take you to a spoofed website that looks legitimate. If you enter your login credentials into a form on the website, the scammer can steal them and log in to your actual account. 

Common Scam Text Scenarios

Here are five common scam text scenarios used by scammers. 

Suspicious activity alert

One of the most common scam texts used by scammers is a text message warning you that there’s suspicious activity on one of your online accounts. This type of scam text can be hard to spot because some companies do warn you about suspicious account activity through text messages. If you receive a text claiming that there’s suspicious activity on your online account, don’t click the link they have sent you; instead, you should log in to your account by going to the official website or their mobile application.  

As a security precaution, use a password generator to change the password for the online account to one that is strong and enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). MFA adds extra layers of security to your account since it requires one or more authentication verification factors, in addition to your username and password. 

Fake invoice

Another common text scam is receiving a fake invoice thanking you for making a payment or a purchase. The text message may say “Thank you for your payment. Click the link to check your invoice.” Because you didn’t make a payment or purchase an item, you’ll be inclined to click the link to see what the invoice is for, but that’s exactly what the scammer wants you to do. 

Rather than clicking on the link, check your bank accounts to see if there is a transaction pending. If there are no unrecognized transactions pending on any of your bank accounts, you’ll confirm that the text you received was a scam and you should ignore it. 

Package delivery notification

Fake package delivery notifications are also a common scam sent through text messages. With this text scam, you’ll receive a text claiming that your package was delivered or that there was a problem while delivering your package. If you have a package you’re expecting, then this can cause you to become concerned about the delivery of your package because you may not have gotten it or you believe something is wrong with the delivery process. 

If you receive a package delivery notification, you must ensure you don’t click on any links or provide the scammer with your personal information. Instead, locate the tracking number you were given when you made your purchase and use that to track your package. You are typically emailed your tracking number once your item has shipped. 

Fake prizes and rewards

Receiving a scam text claiming that you’ve won an iPhone, a free vacation or a cash reward is another common text scam. If you receive a text message claiming that you’ve won something, but you never entered a raffle or giveaway, this should tell you that the text is a scam. Avoid interacting with the contents of the text message and providing the scammer with your personal information to “claim the prize.”

IRS claims you owe money

If you receive a text message claiming that they’re the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), ignore it. The IRS will never initiate contact with you through text message, email or social media, and they will never make an unsolicited request for your sensitive information. IRS scams are more prevalent around tax season, so keep an eye out for them and never send personal information or click on any links that you unexpectedly receive. 

How To Spot a Scam Text

Here are five ways to spot scam texts. 

Unsolicited text from a random number

One of the major signs of a scam text is if you receive an unsolicited text message from a random number that you’ve never received a message from before. However, some scammers can use spoofed numbers to make it seem as though a text is coming from someone you know or a company you have an account with. This is known as SMS spoofing. SMS spoofing is easy to spot if a scammer claims to be someone you text regularly, but you don’t see your previous text conversations. 

Text message has a sense of urgency

Another sign a text message is a scam is if it displays a sense of urgency. For example, the text may say, “There’s suspicious activity on your account. Click the link below to change your password immediately.” Because the text message displays a sense of urgency, you may be more inclined to react right away and click the link so you can “change your password,” but doing this can result in you falling for the scam. It’s important that even when a text message asks you to click on something urgently, you think twice before doing it, and instead, log in to your account by going to the official website. 

Urges you to click on a link provided

As mentioned above, a common tactic used by cybercriminals to get you to provide them with personal information is having you click on a malicious link. If you ever receive an unsolicited link through text message, email or your social media message, never click on it unless you know it’s safe. 

As a precaution when you’re sent a link, double-check the URL. If the URL looks off, such as having some of the letters replaced with numbers, avoid clicking it. If you’re not sure how to spot a malicious link, carefully copy the link and paste it into Google’s Transparency Report. 

Too-good-to-be-true offers

If the text message seems too good to be true, then it’s probably a scam text. The scam text may say something along the lines of “Congratulations! You just won a free iPhone. Click the link below to claim it.” If you haven’t entered a raffle to win a prize or money, then you haven’t actually won anything and you should avoid clicking on the link you were sent. 

Contains grammatical and spelling errors

Another sign of a scam message is if it claims to be a company and it contains grammatical or spelling errors. Legitimate text messages from a company go through corporate approvals, so none of them should contain any spelling or grammatical errors. If they do contain errors, you must avoid interacting with the text. It’s important to note that AI has made it much easier for cybercriminals to draft scam texts with good English, making them harder to spot. 

What To Do if You Fall for a Scam Text

If you fall for a scam text by clicking on a malicious link, here’s what you need to do.

Don’t enter sensitive information into the website the link takes you to

If you click on a link in a scam text and it takes you to a website that looks legitimate, avoid entering any sensitive information on the site. These sites are designed to steal the information you enter so cybercriminals can use that information to log in to your actual online account. 

Use antivirus software to scan your phone

Some malicious links won’t take you to websites, instead, they’ll immediately start downloading malware on your phone. Depending on the type of malware that is installed, it can do different things. For example, spyware can be used to gain access to your phone’s camera and microphone, and it can take screenshots of what’s being displayed on your phone’s screen. To ensure that clicking the link didn’t immediately infect your phone, download trusted antivirus software from your phone’s app store. Some trusted antivirus software apps include Avast Mobile Security and AVG AntiVirus. 

Once you’ve downloaded antivirus software to your phone, use it to manually scan your phone for viruses and malware. 

Keep an eye out for suspicious activity on your accounts

Once you’ve run antivirus software on your phone, you’ll need to keep an eye out for suspicious activity on your online accounts. Suspicious activity refers to any activity on your accounts that is out of the ordinary such as unusual login attempts, receiving random 2FA code requests, transactions you didn’t make appearing on your bank statement, etc. The sooner you notice suspicious activity, the quicker you can act against it to protect your accounts and data. 

Keep Safe From Scam Texts

Scam texts are becoming increasingly common because of the amount of people who fall for them. Always be cautious of text messages claiming to be a company or coming from random numbers, and avoid clicking unsolicited links that are sent to you. The more cautious you are about the text messages you receive, the less likely you are to fall for text scams. 

Learn more about how you can identify scammers to keep yourself and your data safe online.