1 in 3 get scam text messages

A THIRD of text message users have received at least one scam attempt in the past six months – putting them at risk of losing money or data, research shows.

Which? found that of the 34 per cent who had received a scam text, 7 per cent lost personal data, money or both.

Among the victims, 42 per cent had received a message claiming to be from HM Revenue and Customs, while 34 per cent were falsely told they had won a competition and 32 per cent received a text about their supposed ‘injury claim’.

Messaging scams aim to trick victims into clicking links or calling a number to disclose personal information. Users of Facebook Messenger (16 per cent) and WhatsApp (10 per cent) also reported being subjected to scams.

Adam French, of Which?, said: ‘Firms must take action to introduce the systems needed to stop these messages reaching people’s devices … any unexpected messages could well be a scam.’

A spokesman for HMRC said it was working to ‘identify, frustrate and close down fraudulent operations’.