The three keywords that reveal suspicious text message is a scam

Receiving a fraudulent text has become the norm throughout the US.

Americas have reported messages with a job offer or even a simple ‘How have you been’ from unknown numbers.

Now, experts have identified three specific words that are tell-tale signs of a scam to help people fall victim to the devious tactics.

A cybercriminal will simply use ‘Would you kindly’ in these texts, hoping to entice victims to click on a malicious link or submit their personal data. 

Personalized message scams are on the rise, with Americans receiving roughly 19.2 billion fraudulent texts since March of this year.

Text scams can range from someone saying hello to a job opportunity or alleged IRS notice meant to trick you into thinking it’s legitimate.

Fortunately, there are ways to know if you’re being scammed, including the three-word phrase: ‘Would you kindly.’ 

You might see this in a job offer text from an alleged recruiter asking you to ‘kindly’ let them know if you’re interested in a position, but the problem is that this phrase isn’t commonly used within the US.

Tim Bajarin, a 40-year veteran technology analyst, told Readers Digest: ‘You’ll often hear it used in countries with British influence, perhaps once a colonial country, where English isn’t their mother tongue [such as Nigeria, India and Pakistan].’

A message could also ask the recipient to ‘kindly’ submit information whether it’s a Social Security number, bank or credit card information or making a payment.

Although ‘kindly’ isn’t grammatically wrong, the fact that it isn’t used in the US means it should be flagged the same way you would look at a text sent with spelling or grammatical errors, Bajarin warned.

One tell-tale sign that a text is a scam is if a person uses ‘kindly’ in the message. The expression isn’t widely used in the US and is more likely to come from abroad

Scammers know that people are catching on to their tactics and have begun to switch gears by sending more friendly texts that look like they’re coming from someone you might know.

The text might say: ‘Hi, how are you?’ or ‘I’ll be late for the meeting’ to gain your trust and get you to respond. 

Opening a text from someone who seems to know you might seem harmless, but experts warn that you shouldn’t respond.

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cybercriminals will often use this window of opportunity to start a conversation that would lead to a scam by apologizing and trying to keep the conversation going.

When they have gained your trust, ‘they’ll try to offer you advice on investing in cryptocurrency or claim they can teach you the secrets to making big money in the crypto markets. For a fee, of course. But it’s all a scam and they’ll just steal your money,’ the FTC said in a consumer alert.

Even if you don’t engage in the ensuing conversation, the response tells scammers that they’ve reached a working device and it could lead to more fraudulent calls and texts in the future.

Instead, you should just report the unsolicited text as junk or spam and delete it from your phone.

Scammers will act like they know you or try to get you involved in what appears to be an ‘incredible’ offer to gain your trust

A final red flag is any text messages coming from someone who claims to be with a bank or the IRS.

‘If it’s an ‘imposter’ message, like someone claiming to be from, say, Bank of America or the IRS, never click on the link or attachment,’ Doug Shadel, a former fraud investigator and special assistant to the Washington state Attorney General’s office told Reader’s Digest.

‘If you’re not sure if it’s [legit], you should independently log into that account with your own login and password – not what was sent to you – to see if the institution truly was trying to contact you.’

In 2023, Americans lost a total of $10 billion to scammers from fraudulent text messages, phone calls, emails and through social media, according to a report by the FTC.