Michelle Hoeting got a text message on her phone the other day, and she was immediately worried.
"The account has been locked due to suspicious activity," she said reading the message. "It was terrifying that my bank was going to be locked.
Hoeting almost clicked the link when another text arrived, this one from Wells Fargo. It also said her online banking had been "locked due to unusual activity."
But she didn't have a Wells Fargo account, which is when she got suspicious.
"I saw the link, and the link did not make sense to me," Hoeting said.
How does smishing work?
Good thing she followed her instincts, it was a text message scam often called smishing. It's a type of phishing scam.
It starts with a text or phone call from your bank saying your account has been locked for fraud. Some are calling it the most dangerous bank scam ever, according to experts at Don't Waste Your Money.
And how do these scammers know you have an account with that particular bank. They don't, according to the FTC.
The scammers send these texts randomly, knowing if you have an account with that bank, you're going to pay attention.
"They had detected suspicious activity, and they were going to help me," Damon Lander remembers when he was targeted just before the pandemic.
Unlike Hoeting, he was unknowingly gave his account number to the scammers.
"They changed my user name, my password, changed my card pin," Lander said.
How to avoid smishing scams?
The FTC advices when you get suspicious messages from your bank; don't click any links, do not call a phone number in the text, and never give your account number.
Remember: if your bank claims a problem with your account, call the bank at their main number. Not the number in any text or email, so you don't waste your money.