Chapter 4 · Phone & Text Safety
Cell Phone Scams: Spotting Phone Call and Text (Smishing) Fraud
We carry our phones everywhere and trust them more than our inbox — which is exactly why scammers love calls and texts. This chapter covers the most common phone and text schemes and the simple rules that shut them down.
Key takeaways
- No real agency — IRS, Social Security, Medicare, police — ever demands payment by gift card, wire, or crypto. That demand is always a scam.
- Caller ID and sender names are trivial to fake; never trust a call or text just because it looks official.
- "Smishing" is phishing by text — fake delivery notices, bank alerts, and prize messages with malicious links.
- If a call about a family emergency scares you, hang up and call that person directly on a number you already have.
Phone call scams
The IRS / Social Security scam
A recorded or live voice claims you owe money or that your benefits are suspended, and threatens arrest unless you pay immediately — usually by gift card or wire transfer. It's a scam every time. Government agencies communicate by mail and never demand instant payment over the phone.
The tech-support scam
Someone claiming to be from Microsoft or Apple says your computer has a virus and offers to "fix it" remotely. Letting them connect hands a stranger control of your device, your files, and your accounts. Real tech companies don't cold-call you about viruses.
The grandparent scam
A caller pretends to be your grandchild — or a lawyer or officer acting for them — in urgent trouble: arrested, hospitalized, stranded. They beg you not to tell anyone, because secrecy keeps you from checking. Always check.
Robocalls
Automated calls about car warranties, cruises, or "free" gift cards. Some are just annoying; others want you to press a button or stay on the line so they can charge you or harvest information.
Text message scams (smishing)
"Smishing" is phishing delivered by text. It works like email phishing but lands as an SMS or app notification, where people tend to be even less cautious.
- Fake delivery notices: "Your FedEx package is on hold — click to confirm your address."
- Fake bank alerts: "Suspicious activity on your account — verify now."
- Fake prize texts: "You've been selected! Claim your $1,000 gift card."
- 2FA code theft: someone who already has your password texts pretending to be your bank, asking you to read back the verification code. Never share a code anyone asks you for — real institutions never request it.
Phone safety rules
- Let calls from unknown numbers go to voicemail.
- Never call back the number in a suspicious voicemail — look up the real one yourself.
- Never pay anyone by gift card, wire transfer, or crypto over the phone.
- For any "family emergency" call, hang up and call that person directly on their known number.
- Register at donotcall.gov to cut down on unwanted calls.
- Never click links in unexpected texts, even ones that look like your bank.
Want every chapter in one place?
This guide is free to read here. If you'd like the complete book — checklists, scripts for handling a scam in progress, and every chapter offline — it's available as an eBook.