5 Ways Small Businesses Owners Can Protect Their Brands From Text Scams

Have you been victimized by a text message scam? You are not alone. It's a serious issue that affects thousands of mobile users every year.

And the worst part is, fraudsters are continually inventing new ways to scam recipients. If you aren't up to speed on the latest text scams, you'll fall for these fraudulent messages over and over and over again.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) recently released a warning alerting consumers to an ongoing text scam that's fooling recipients into sharing sensitive bank information. In most cases, these kinds of scam texts link recipients to a phony form page. From there, recipients are prompted to enter an ATM card number or pin number under the guise of "reactivating a disabled account." Unfortunately, text scams like this could end up costing small business owners thousands!

What can your business do to fight back against these and other text scams?

How to Protect Your Small Business From Text Scams

Follow these simple tips to safeguard your small business from text scams.

1. Always Vet Text Messages

As a best practice, always question the legitimacy of text messages. If you receive a text message from a known entity, call the business directly to confirm.

Unfortunately, some scammers can spoof their numbers to appear as though the messages are common from numbers that you might recognize. As such, it's always a good idea to open and respond to text messages with a bit of skepticism and caution.

2. Delete Texts From Unknown Numbers

Have you ever received a text message from an unknown number? It's incredibly jarring and enough to make you want to throw your phone across the room.

How did this person get my number? Why are they texting me?

To avoid accidentally interacting with a text scammer, always delete text messages sent from unknown numbers.

3. Avoid Clicking on Links

As mentioned, most text scammers will include a hyperlink in all text communications. Again, the idea here is to push recipients to a fake form page. From there, text scammers use form entries to access important and sensitive information.

"When you're looking at the URL, look carefully for any subtle misspellings in the domain name," recommends Steven Melendez, contributor at Techwalla. "Scammers will use slightly misspelled variations of well-known site to trick you into simply skimming the URL and clicking."

For example, a text message might link to http://www.mybonk.com, instead of http://www.mybank.com.

4. Don't Communicate With Text Scammers

If you suspect that you received a text scam, never communicate with the scammer. A text scammer can use your responses to shape his or her understanding of who you are. Even if the scammer isn't asking for your account information (login, password) outright, the scammer can probably make a few educated guesses with just a few minutes of your time – it's that easy.

It's never a good idea to hold a conversation with a text scammer.

5. Partner With an Experience Text Marketing Provider

Finally, consider partnering with an experienced text message marketing provider. Finding the "right" text marketing partner for your small business means that you will have ongoing text support. When your business receives a questionable text message, support teams are ready to mitigate the issue.

Our texting program comes with 24-7 support and a ton of free resources to point you and your small business in the right direction.

Safeguard Your Small Business

For some reason, cellphone users lower their guard when it comes to protecting their mobile device. However, there are a number of steps you can take to minimize risk and protect you and your small business.

For many years, we've worked alongside some of the world's leading enterprises, small businesses, nonprofits, and organizations. In this pursuit, we've helped thousands of marketers initiate effective, affordable, and safe text marketing promotions and campaigns to prospects and consumers.

Photo: Getty Images/Rawpixel