Scammers are getting cleverer at stealing money via text messages
April 21, 2025
Key takeaways:
- Losses from text scams hit a record high in 2024.
- Victims are losing more money to text scams even though fewerscams are being reported.
- Popular text scams include delivery scams, fake jobs and unpaid tolls.
Textscams keep stealing money from victims.
People reported around $470 million in losses from text message scams in 2024, which is more than five times the $86 million in losses in 2020,according to data from the Federal Trade Commission.
“Since the vast majority of frauds are never reported, this number likely reflects only a fraction of the actual harm,” the FTC said.
Losses from text scams have gone up while reports have declined, suggesting that scammers are getting better at stealing more money from victims.
The FTC said thesefive text scams accountfor around half of those reported:
1. Package delivery scams
Scammers can pretend to be the U.S. Postal Service or UPS, saying there was an issue with a delivery and link toa fake website to stealcredit card details.
Victims have reported having to pay a small “redelivery” fee that is a trick to get their credit card information.
Package delivery scams were the most reported scam in 2024, the FTC said.
2. Job scams
Fake job offers via text messages, often from scammers pretending to be recruiters, have been around for a while.
But the FTC said the job scam has seen new life as a “task scam,” which is when fraudsters offer a job to complete repetive tasks, such as rating products or apps.
Eventually, scammers ask victims to send money to finish their tasks and withdraw their fake earnings.
3. Fraud alert scams
Fraud alert scams can appear as text messages warning victims about supposed big purchases they didn’t make.
Sometimes they are given a number to call or are asked to reply yes or no to verify a big transaction. Then, they are connected to a bogusfraud department.
“The scammers then pressure people into moving money out of their accounts to supposedly keep it safe, but it really goes to the scammers,” the FTC said. “And people who move that money do not get any of it back.”
4. Toll scams
Scammers are constantly sending texts that appear to be from legitimate toll collection agencies, such as E-ZPass, Florida’s SunPass and San Francisco’s FasTrak.
Tolls scams send a text that ask victims to click on a website to urgently pay an unpaid balance, but it is a trick to harvest credit card and even Social Security numbers.
Toll scams have gained in popularity in 2025:The first three months of the year have had back-to-back increases in the number of toll scams sent by text messages from fraudsters pretending to be toll collectors such as E-ZPass, ConsumerAffairs previously reported.
5. Wrong numberscams
The wrong number scam isn’t as popular but is still tricking victims by pretending to be an innocent mistake, starting with messages like “hello” or “do you want to get coffee?”.
But responding can lead to a costly scam after fraudsters try to strike up a fake friendship or romance and then try to rope victims into a bogus investment.
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