This text message phishing scam is new, new to me at least. This morning I received the following text message from 905-460-4947

I just so happen to have a bank account with BMO (Bank of Montreal). The first thing I thought was, I guess someone was trying to hack into my account then I thought, wait a minute, I never turned on text message notification. Finally, I looked closely at “Tap to Load Preview” and I saw the URL “bit.do” and I started saying @#$#$^&@#$ (censored for the little ones). Obviously, if it was from BMO, the URL would be “www.bmo.com”.

Upon closer examination, the full phishing URL is “bit.do/ddbzj” which is redirected to “1bmo-validation.com”. NONE of these URLs are for BMO or any other bank.

Because of all the email phishing scams, I never click on a link emailed to me. Now I have learnt something new, criminals (a**holes) are now sending phishing scams via text messages.

So to the world at large, do not click on links sent to you whether that be by emails or text messages. I am sure that these phishing scams will be hitting every bank and financial institution, so if you get one, don’t click on it. Simply go to your browser (or phone app) and input the correct URL, otherwise someone will STEAL YOUR BANKING INFORMATION and, of course, STEAL YOUR MONEY.

The bottom line is that it is safer to type in your own URL rather than pay the consequences and have everything stolen from you.

Regards,
Roger Lacroix
Capitalware Inc.