This Text Isn't From Your Bank: Verify the Alert

The fake fraud-alert trap

A message about a suspicious payment creates a reason to call or reply. The person answering may then ask for a code, remote access or a transfer to a supposedly safe account. A convincing message can still be the start of a scam.

Sources: FTC: Unexpected texts and fake fraud alerts

Related guidance: Delivery and Refund Messages: Verify Without the Link

Check the account through your own route

A genuine account concern can wait while you contact the bank independently. Do not use the message’s phone number to verify the message.

1. Open the banking app you already use, or call the number on your card.
2. Ask whether the specific alert or payment appears in your account.
3. Do not disclose a sign-in code to an unexpected caller or move money at their direction.

Sources: FTC: How to recognize and avoid phishing scams

If you replied or shared a code

Tell the bank exactly what you shared and whether a payment was made. Review account access and follow its recovery instructions. A reply alone does not establish that an account was taken over.

Sources: FTC: What to do if you were scammed; FTC: How to recover your hacked email or social media account

Related guidance: What to Do After Responding to a Scam