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Scam alert:
Beware the dangerous
‘Cellular Carrier Loyalty Giveaway’ scam
As you probably know by now, the scammers of the
world are always coming up with new ways to sepa-
rate innocent people from their hard-earned money.
Since the dawn of the World Wide Web, most phish-
ing scams have been perpetrated via email, but
that’s beginning to change.
While email is still the primary vehicle for delivering
these types of scams, a relatively new generation of
scams are now arriving in the form of SMS text mes-
sages.
What makes these text scams so dangerous is the
fact that most people aren’t used to seeing scams
being delivered this way.
Also, in most cases the scammer knows which cellu-
lar carrier you use (your phone number is a major
clue) so they reference your actual carrier in the
message.
If you want to see how easy it is for a scammer to
find out who your cellular carrier is, just follow the
steps below for the device you’re using.
If you’re using a laptop or desktop computer:
1 – Open a web browser and visit Area-Codes.com.
2 – Enter your phone number’s Area Code & Prefix.
Note: You don’t need to enter the last four digits of
your phone number, just the area code and prefix.
3 – Click the Search button.
If you’re using smartphone:
1 – Open a web browser and visit Area-Codes.com.
2 – Tap Area Code and Prefix search.
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3 – Enter your phone number’s Area
Code & Prefix.
Note: You don’t need to enter the last four digits
of your phone number, just the area code and
prefix.
4 – Tap the Lookup Area Code & Prefix button.
Pretty simple, right?
While the details vary a bit, most of these “loyalty
thank-you” scams work like this:
You receive a text message on your phone that
appears to be from your cellular carrier.
The message begins by thanking you for being a
loyal customer, then it says you qualify to receive
a cash payout as a thank-you.
The amounts mentioned in these messages vary,
but most people are reporting that the messages
they received had the amount listed as $200.
According to the message, all you have to do in
order to “claim” the thank-you gift is to tap a link
in the message.
Once you tap the link your phone’s default
browser will open displaying a website with a
form to enter your banking info. They have to
have some way to send you your money, right?
Well, there are several red flags that indicate that
these messages are fraudulent.
First, the link in the message will be a shortened
link (via Bitly or one of the other popular link
shortening services). That obscures the fact that
the URL of the page does not reside on the carri-
er’s official website.
Second, why would your cellular carrier need
your banking info? All they would need to do is
apply a $200 credit to your account like they rou-
tinely do when they offer legitimate promotions.
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