GREENSBORO, N.C. — Companies want to keep their customers. You’ve probably seen the commercials and ads offering reward cards or ‘the best deals for all customers, new and existing.' Knowing all that might make you believe the texts being sent out.
ATT FREE msg: December bill is paid. Thanks, here's a little gift for you. (and then there’s a link)
You might want to click it but don't. On the AT&T Community Forum, other customers are asking about this suspicious message and wondering if others got it too. AT&T Community Support responded by confirming the test is one of the most common spam texts customers have been receiving and not to click the link.
Often, folks ask me, but can’t it be real? No. Notice the phone numbers from the two spam texts. They don’t come from AT&T, they’re personal numbers and they’re not the same. This means, even if you block them, there's a 99.9% chance you're going to get this same text from another number. It's so aggravating.
Unfortunately, it’s not the only way scammers are trying to get you. The Better Business Bureau is warning folks about an email message making the rounds. It's supposedly from a friend and they need a favor. They ask you to buy a gift card for something they need and that they'll pay you back. In the end, they want you to read off the gift card number
and once you do that...
“You are not going to get your money back, so just you know, take a few minutes. Call your friend, text your friend and make sure it is them,” said Lechelle Yates of the Better Business Bureau.
Gift cards are like cash. They're untraceable and once the money is gone, it's gone. No one can get it back for you.