Did you get a text message from your own phone number containing a link – leaving you perplexed and wanting to know more?
Don’t click on that link.
According to a public awareness message posted on Thursday by the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office, that link is more than likely being sent by a scammer looking to gain access to your devices, accounts, or personal information.
“Scammers are always thinking up ways to put new spin on their criminal tricks. This time, they’re sending spam texts to you – from your own phone number,” the release said. “They’ve changed (spoofed) the caller ID to look like they’re messaging you from your number, but the shock of getting a text from yourself is bound to get your attention – which is what they’re after.
“If you get a text from your own number, it’s a scam.”
Those wishing to play a role in stopping spam attempts like these are encouraged to report the message as junk or spam in the app or on the device that they’re using, and to copy the text message and forward it to 7726 (SPAM). Because sending unwanted messages and attempted fraud are a violation of federal law, those who receive the messages can also report them to the Federal Trade Commission by visiting www.reportfraud.ftc.gov.
Additional information can also be found by checking the consumer alert section of the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s website at www.sjgov.org/da.
Over the last several years the DA’s office and the sheriff’s office have been proactive in notifying people about potential fraud and scams, sometimes even involving their own phone number – as was the case when people reported getting phone calls from the sheriff’s office about paying money to clear up outstanding warrants.
The only problem? The sheriff’s office doesn’t call people to clear up warrants – especially for a payment.
“Law Enforcement will never call you to tell you about your warrant, and we’ll definitely never try to get you to pay us to make it go away,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “Warrants are signed by a judge, and that judge wants to see you in person!”
While things like prepaid gift cards and credit cards – those paying are asked to send the details over the phone – are commonly used in such scams to avoid being traced, the inclusion of cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Ethereum, DogeCoin, etc.) makes it even more difficult for law enforcement to attempt to catch the people perpetrating these scams.
The sheriff’s office recommends a healthy dose of skepticism whenever a request to pay by untraceable means come across – whether that’s through prepaid cards, cryptocurrency, peer-to-peer apps like Zelle, CashApp, and Venmo, or wire services such as Western Union or MoneyGram.
And being able to determine whether it’s a scam or not is getting more difficult thanks to phone number spoofing – allowing the scammers to make it appear like they’re actually calling from the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office by having he phone number appear in the Caller ID screen.
Anybody that thinks that they may have a warrant for their arrest and wants to begin the process of clearing it up is encouraged to contact the San Joaquin County Superior Court at 209.239.1316.
To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.
