Beware: smishing is on the rise

Smishing is a form of phishing that involves a text message or a phone number intended to lure people into providing their personal or financial information. The scammers often attempt to disguise themselves as a government agency, bank, or other company to lend legitimacy to their claims.

There have been reports of malicious FasTrak text messages requesting payments, as well as USPS messages with a web link that requires a response. If you received text messages like these, take a screenshot of it, block the sender and be sure to report it. Do not reply to the message nor click on the link. FasTrak will never request payment through a text messages, and USPS does not charge for tracking service nor will contain a link.

FasTrak related texts can be reported to www.ic3.gov. USPS related smishing can be reported to spam@uspis.gov. —OC Board of Supervisors, www.uspis.gov