Chapter 17
Smishing and the delivery text
What you'll get from this chapter: Why scam texts about tolls, packages, and banks are so effective, and the one rule that defeats them: never use the link.
In this chapter
- Words in this chapter
- Your steps
A text about a package, a toll, or a bank problem is dangerous because of the link, not because of the story it tells.
Text messages were the most commonly reported way scammers first reached people in 2025 fraud reports to the (FTC).¹ These texts are written to make you act within minutes, before you have time for a second thought, so the habit has to be built in advance.
means a fraudulent text message that wants you to tap a link or call a number. The name combines (short message service, the technical name for texting) and . In April 2024 the FBI warned about texts pretending to be unpaid toll bills; the link did not go to any real toll authority.² The same pattern shows up as a package delay, a tax refund, or a bank alert you were not expecting. The text reads smoothly because an artificial intelligence (AI) tool may have written it. Shortened links hide the real web address. Do not tap. Open the real app instead.
A scam text is one way in. A fake virus warning is another. The next chapter covers fake virus alerts.
Words in this chapter
- . that arrives as a text message. The name combines , the technical name for text messages, and phishing.
Your steps
Sources
¹ Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Alert: "How are scammers trying to reach you?" (May 21, 2026). https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2026/05/how-are-scammers-trying-reach-you
² FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, Public Service Announcement I-041224-PSA, "Smishing Scam Regarding Debt for Road Toll Services" (April 12, 2024). https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2024/PSA240412