Verizon customers have reported receiving mysterious messages over the past several days sent from their own phone number.
The texts say, “Your bill is paid” and “There’s a gift for you.”
“It had my picture, it had my phone number, but it was sent to myself,” says Neil Miller, of Plainview.
Security experts say most people are aware of fraudulent texts, but a message that comes from your own number could throw some people off.
“That’s the trick,” says Mark Ostrowski, of Check Point Technologies. “That’s what the scammers are trying to create–that level of trust”
Ostrowski says the link is designed to steal your money or identity.
The Federal Trade Commission says if you get a scam text message, you should report it to them.
Verizon says it’s aware of these messages and is now working with law enforcement to stop the fraudulent activity.
The company says don’t click on the link.
Statement from Verizon:
“As part of a recent fraud scheme, bad actors have been sending text messages to some Verizon customers which appear to come from the customers’ own number. Over the past 48 hours, our company has made a significant effort to limit the current activity. However, attempted fraud using SMS spam is an issue that’s been impacting virtually all wireless providers in recent months. We are actively working with others in our industry and with U.S. Law Enforcement as part of an investigation aimed at identifying and stopping these fraudsters and their illegal actions. We will continue this work on behalf of our customers. In addition, we have no indication of any Russian involvement.”
T-Mobile and AT&T tell News 12 that they are not seeing these kind of scam texts from customers’ own numbers on their networks