In this edition, we focus on: Romance Scams.
Text messages that are seemingly innocent might lead to putting your private information at risk.
According to the Better Business Bureau, there is a new method of a romance scam taking place in the form of text messages.
This is how the scam works: you receive a text message from someone claiming that you connected previously on a dating site. They will then ask you if you want to meet up. If you respond and let them know they got the wrong number, you will continually receive messages and even scantily clad pictures from the "person."
The stranger you are receiving text messages from is actually a chatbot. It will try to trick you to sign up for adult or dating websites. People who end up signing up give away their personal and credit card information, and are suddenly at high risk for identity theft.
The Better Business Bureau advises to never give up your personal information to strangers and to never share your credit card or banking information. For more information on how to spot fake text messages, click here for tips from the BBB.
A resident from Reno recently reported to the BBB Scam Tracker their experience with receiving scam text messages:
"I have received many scams with vulgar related websites listed. I usually just ignore them, but this time, I also received a slew of text messages along with links to adult dating websites. I learned that I can file a report regarding these matters, so I did."
You can report these types of scams to your local law enforcement. To file a report, visit Renopd.com/report.
Your safest bet when it comes to dealing with receiving scam text messages is to simply ignore them. Remember, scammers are trained to dupe people and will say whatever you want to hear. The more you interact with them, the more you are leaving yourself open to risk for getting scammed. Do not be afraid to block numbers if you don't recognize the number.
For more tips on how you can protect yourself from romance scams,
