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Scammers Went "Phishing", Now They Go "Smishing"

Last updated on Wednesday, August 13, 2008

(UNDATED) - With technology becoming more and more accessible, and corruptible, con-artists are coming up with newer and easier ways to steal your information, and everything that goes along with it.

Lately, the most common form of scamming has been "phishing," where people e-mail you or, more recently now, call you, and say they are someone they aren't, and try and get a hold of your name, social security number, bank account numbers or anything else they can think of to clean you out.

Now, with more and more financial institutions using SMS text messaging to inform their customers of things ranging from account information to special deals, more and more con-artists are using text messages in what is now called "smishing."

Scammers are sending bum text messages to people trying to get them to call a sucker 800 number or visit a spoofed website to enter their personal information into.

As a result, police statewide are reminding Hoosiers to never give out personal information, especially if asked for. Your banks and the government won't lose your information and need to re-obtain it.

If that were the case, not only would that bank be in trouble, it would be all over the news.

And also, be aware of what website you're on. If you're not sure the site is actually your bank's, put in a made up name and password and see if it lets you through.

If it does, it's not your bank's website.

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