Virgin Media O2 shares the top 5 scam text tactics in the UK

As you probably know, mobile carriers have various safeguards that block scam calls and texts, protecting us from bad actors wanting to steal our money and personal information. However, even with such sophisticated firewalls, it is still possible to receive a scam message.

The thing about scammers is that they are cunning, and sometimes you may not even realize that you are reading a scam message. And to help customers stay safe and avoid falling prey to such frauds, UK carrier Virgin Media O2 just shared the top five types of scam texts that scammers usually use to deceive us.

Some of the most commonly used scam messages appear to be the "Hi Mum / Hi Dad" spam texts. In this type of scam, fraudsters impersonate the victim's child and pretend to use a new or friend's mobile number because they have broken their phone or because their handset has been stolen.

Another widely used scam tactic is using fake package delivery texts. Scammers send such messages, claiming to be from popular delivery companies in the UK. The goal is to trick people into visiting a hoax website to rearrange, pay for a delivery, or provide additional information to obtain the victim's banking information.

Fake bank or payment notifications are also a common scam tactic. Here, scammers send text messages pretending to be from the victim's bank, warning them about a problem with a payment, unauthorized access to their account, or the addition of a new payee.

Among the top five most frequently blocked scams are cryptocurrency and investment scams. These scams involve fraudsters luring victims to a website or a phishing social media group with promises of "achieving financial freedom," for example. Another frequently blocked scam involves text messages that claim to offer debt write-offs, with scammers tricking victims into visiting a fake government website to write off their bills.

If you receive a suspicious text message and live in the UK, feel free to forward it to number 7726 at no cost. This way, your operator could start an investigation and block the scammer's number. In addition to that, it could use the text to improve its firewall to identify and stop new scam trends more quickly.

If you are happy with Virgin Media O2's services and want to get a new smartphone, you can check out our best Virgin Media phone deals and best O2 phone deals articles, where you can find great deals on some of the best smartphones currently available.