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Security Notes

Texts, calls and voices you shouldn't trust

By Travis Baldwin, Founder & Principal ConsultantLast reviewed 2 min read

The short version

  • Scammers increasingly use texts and phone calls, because people trust them more than email.
  • Caller ID and text sender names can be faked, and AI can imitate a familiar voice from a short recording.
  • The rule that beats them all: hang up, then call back on a number you already know.
  • Never share a one-time code from a text with anyone who contacts you, even if they say they're from your bank.

Texts that want you to tap

Text scams, sometimes called "smishing," imitate toll agencies, delivery companies, banks and streaming services: an unpaid toll, a package that can't be delivered, a suspicious charge. The FBI has warned about a wave of fake road-toll texts impersonating toll services in at least three states, a scam it says may be moving from state to state. The link leads to a convincing fake page that collects card details or passwords.

Don't tap links in unexpected texts. If a bill might be real, go to the company's website or app yourself.

Calls from "your bank"

A caller says they're from your bank's fraud department and need to "verify" your identity, or asks you to read back a code that was just texted to you. That code is what lets them into your account. Real banks don't call and ask for one-time codes, and caller ID showing your bank's name or number isn't proof, because it can be faked.

Voices you recognize

AI tools can now imitate a person's voice from a short clip, such as a social media video or a voicemail greeting. Scammers use this to call a family member with a fake emergency, or to call a business pretending to be the owner and urgently ask for a payment. The voice can sound right even when everything else about the call is wrong.

One rule beats them all

  1. Hang up, or don't reply. You lose nothing by ending the conversation.
  2. Call back on a number you already know: the back of your card, your contacts, or the company's real website, never one given in the call or text.
  3. Agree on a check in advance. Families can choose a code word for genuine emergencies. Businesses can make it a rule that payment requests are always confirmed this way, as in our note on invoice scams.

Reporting scams

In the U.S., you can forward scam texts to 7726 (which spells SPAM) to report them to your mobile carrier, then delete them. Report fraud to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and if you lost money, to the FBI at ic3.gov.

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