Scammers regularly use phone text messages as a means of gaining new victims.
Often, they attempt to lure victims to scam websites by claiming that they have won a prize.
Here’s a typical example:
Transcript:
You have won the new iPhone X (512GB) and 1 year Netflix for FREE. Claim it here: [link omitted]
But, in fact, you have won nothing at all and the promised prizes do not exist.
If you follow the link in the hope of claiming your prize, you may be tricked into downloading malware to your phone.
Or, you may be taken to a scam website that promises the chance to win further prizes in exchange for supplying your name and contact details. These sites will share your information with dodgy marketing companies who will inundate you with unwanted email, text messages, and phone calls.
Some versions may try to trick you into entering your mobile phone number, ostensibly to claim a prize or go in the draw for other prizes. But, by supplying your number, you will actually be subscribing to a very expensive SMS “service” that charges you several dollars for every message they send you.
Some versions may even try to steal your credit card details by claiming that you have won a valuable prize but are required to pay the cost of shipping the prize to you.
The offered prizes and other details may vary in different versions of these scams.
So, be wary of any unsolicited text message claiming you have won a prize in a competition or promotion that you have never heard of.
Importance Notice
After considerable thought and with an ache in my heart, I have decided that the time has come to close down the Hoax-Slayer website.These days, the site does not generate enough revenue to cover expenses, and I do not have the financial resources to sustain it going forward.
Moreover, I now work long hours in a full-time and physically taxing job, so maintaining and managing the website and publishing new material has become difficult for me.
And finally, after 18 years of writing about scams and hoaxes, I feel that it is time for me to take my fingers off the keyboard and focus on other projects and pastimes.
When I first started Hoax-Slayer, I never dreamed that I would still be working on the project all these years later or that it would become such an important part of my life. It's been a fantastic and engaging experience and one that I will always treasure.
I hope that my work over the years has helped to make the Internet a little safer and thwarted the activities of at least a few scammers and malicious pranksters.
A Big Thank You
I would also like to thank all of those wonderful people who have supported the project by sharing information from the site, contributing examples of scams and hoaxes, offering suggestions, donating funds, or helping behind the scenes.I would especially like to thank David White for his tireless contribution to the Hoax-Slayer Facebook Page over many years. David's support has been invaluable, and I can not thank him enough.
Closing Date
Hoax-Slayer will still be around for a few weeks while I wind things down. The site will go offline on May 31, 2021. While I will not be publishing any new posts, you can still access existing material on the site until the date of closure.Thank you, one and all!
Brett Christensen,
Hoax-Slayer
