{"id":70515,"date":"2022-01-04T10:06:50","date_gmt":"2022-01-04T15:06:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/?p=70515"},"modified":"2022-01-04T10:06:50","modified_gmt":"2022-01-04T15:06:50","slug":"scam-alert-fla-a-top-state-for-spam-texts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/?p=70515","title":{"rendered":"Scam Alert: Fla. a Top State for Spam-Texts"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5 class=\"field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden field--item\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Fla. A.G. warning: Americans now receive more robotexts than robocalls. <\/span>Floridians will get 5 billion this year \u2013 and clickable links can easily download malware.<\/h5>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field--item\">\n<p>TALLAHASSEE, Fla. \u2013 Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody issued a Consumer Alert warning Floridians about a rise in robotexts. The alert calls Florida \u201cone of the most spam-texted states in the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While a large number of unwanted robotexts can be irritating, the bigger danger lies in clickable links within those texts. In many cases, seemingly legitimate texts will include a link that downloads malware into a phone or computer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese automated text messages are now more prevalent, and potentially more dangerous, than robocalls since malicious links can be clicked on directly in a text,\u201d Moody says. \u201cThese links often contain malware that can be instantly downloaded to a phone. Any interaction with this type of text will show the scammer that the phone number is active, making the targeted user vulnerable to further messages.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) runs the National Do Not Call Registry, which may offer some help to Americans who add their name. While robotexters may ignore U.S. laws, people registered on the Registry can\u00a0report unwanted calls to the FTC\u00a0after being on the list for 31 days. Violators, or those who call someone on the National Do Not Call List, can be fined\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rd.com\/list\/truth-about-do-not-call-list\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">per call<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Register by visiting\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.donotcall.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DoNotCall.gov<\/a>\u00a0or calling 1 (888) 382-1222.<\/p>\n<h3>Avoiding illegal robotexts<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Don\u2019t answer texts from unrecognized numbers. Interacting shows the scammer that someone is actually receiving the texts and will likely lead to even more robotexts<\/li>\n<li>Never click links in text messages from unknown numbers. They often contain malware or lead to malicious websites<\/li>\n<li>Consider downloading phone apps that help block scam texts from even reaching your phone<\/li>\n<li>Texts from a five- to six-digit short code telephone number may be a scam. Legitimate short-code phone numbers can be found in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/usshortcodedirectory.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Short Code Directory<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Report scam robotexts and robocalls to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/reportfraud.ftc.gov\/#\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Federal Trade Commission<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fla. A.G. warning: Americans now receive more robotexts than robocalls. Floridians will get 5 billion this year \u2013 and clickable links can easily download malware. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. \u2013 Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody issued a Consumer Alert warning Floridians about a rise in robotexts. The alert calls Florida \u201cone of the most spam-texted states in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1401,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_expiration-date-status":"saved","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70515"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=70515"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70516,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70515\/revisions\/70516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=70515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=70515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.myewm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=70515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}