Peer to Peer, also known as P2P, payment services allow you to quickly send money to others often by searching for their phone number or email. While the service is convenient and secure if used properly, scammers are finding ways to take advantage of unsuspecting users.

Smishing, a form of Phishing, is when a scammer tries to trick people into giving private information through text message. Scammers will often use fear as a tool to trick people into thinking unauthorized transactions have occurred in their accounts. In this scenario, customers receive communication via text message from scammers posing as the financial institution’s fraud team stating there has been a fraudulent transaction on their account.

Here’s an example of how a smishing attempt might happen:

• Customer receives communication via text message from scammer posing as financial institution’s fraud team
• Scammer explains to customer that to get money back, they need to send money to their own email address, or unregistered token (email or U.S. mobile phone number used to identify an enrolled user and associates that user with their enrolled account)
• Scammer enrolls using customer’s unregistered token at their own bank
• One-time password (OTP) is sent to customer and scammer convinces customer to give it to them
• Scammer completes enrollment using OTP and then deposits funds into their own account

Fraud Prevention

To protect yourself from smishing attempts like these, understand that your bank will never ask you for any of the following via text message:

• One-time password
• Account number
• Social Security number
• Email
• Name
• Address
• Debit card number/PIN

If you receive any kind of communication that asks you for this information, delete it immediately. In general, it’s best to never respond to messages from unknown numbers or click the links included. If you have questions or concerns about suspicious text messages regarding your Busey account, contact our Customer Care team at 800.672.8739 | Busey.

For additional tips on avoiding fraud and other online scams, visit the Information Security section of Busey’s Money Matters blog