Texan Mosaic

Editor’s Note: Written by Pedro Figueroa, COMM 2311-601 Newswriting. Photos from students in COMM 1318 Photography 1. Featured photo by William Wilson.

If you are reading this on your cellphone right now, scammers may be trying to reach you.

Scammers may imitate a legitimate site and say they have information regarding an account you have. You might see a text message offering free prizes, promising to pay off school loans, or threatening that you owe unpaid tolls.     

According to the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. government agency whose job it is to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive business practices, these messages may actually be “phishing”.

This is how the FTC reports “phishing” works:

• You get an email or text that seems to be from someone you know, and it asks you to click a link, or give your password, business bank account, or other sensitive information,
• It looks real,
• And, it’s urgent — the message pressures you to act now or something bad will happen

If you click on the links, the FTC warns, scammers can install ransomware or other programs that can lock you out of your data. Even worse, if you share passwords, scammers now have access to all those accounts.

“What makes these scams especially effective, is that they create a sense of urgency or fear,” says South Plains College Campus Security Analyst Olga Lozano.

Lozano says text scams have become more common among students and young adults for a few reasons.

“First, young people are often connected through their phones,” she says, “which makes them easier targets for scammers. These scammers send personalized or urgent messages that look real, taking advantage of how familiar messaging apps feel.”

According to the FTC, in 2024 people reported losing $470 million to scams that started with text messages. This amount is five times higher than what was reported in 2020, even though the number of reports declined.   

FTC data goes on to show the most commonly reported type of text scam was fake package delivery. Fake job opportunities are also common.

“Scammers often target young adults by pretending to be recruiters or legit organizations,” Lozano says, “especially when they promote fake job opportunities.”

The FTC warns another common scam is a text that includes warnings about fake unpaid tolls with a link to pay them. 

Legitimate companies won’t ask for information about your account by text, the FTC says.

When it comes to plain text messages on your phone, Lozano says there are some warning signs to watch out for that might mean it’s a scam.

“These include messages from unknown or suspicious numbers,” she says, “messages that use urgent or alarmist language demanding you act quickly, requests for personal or financial info, poor grammar, or weird phrasing, and offers that sound too good to be true.”

South Plains College student Viridiana Monroy Gomez says she has received texts before that she thought might be a scam.

“They made me suspicious,” she says, “because they either have a link they want me to click on, or they will mention an account I have with them when I don’t.”

So, what do you do if you suspect you have one of these text scams?  

Gomez says she reported the messages as spam.

According to the FTC, there are several ways to report it:

• Copy the message and forward it to 7726 (SPAM);
• Report it on the messaging app you use.  Look for the option to report junk or spam.
• Report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Lozano says students can protect themselves from scams by staying informed about trusted sources like cybersecurity websites, college resources, and government advice like cisa.gov. CISA is the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency.

“Since many young people might not recognize these scams right away, it’s important to stay alert and verify messages carefully,” Lozano says, “like checking official websites or contacting companies directly – so you don’t fall for these tricks.”