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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Visa reveals top scam text phrases
A woman looks at her smartphone in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of Visa Inc
‘FREE GIFT’: Half of the respondents in a global survey were confident that they could detect scams, but they were likely to overlook some common clues, Visa said
By Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporter
The most common phrases used by fraudsters to target Taiwanese in scam text messages are “free gift” and “Your password has been stolen,” Visa Inc said on Wednesday last week, citing the results of a global survey.
The “free gift” message lured in 41 percent of targeted people, while the “password” text drew in 40 percent, Visa said.
Sixty-five percent of Taiwanese respondents were worried that their family members or friends would fall prey to scam text messages, while 51 percent of them said words like “urgent” and “free gift” might succeed in fooling people, the survey found.
Visa’s global survey collected 6,000 responses across 18 markets.
Even though 50 percent of global respondents expressed confidence in their ability to recognize fraudulent messages, 73 percent of them could easily overlook the clues that can help them identify such messages, the company said.
To avoid scams, people should pay attention to whether the messages come from familiar numbers, whether they have interacted with the sender before, whether the messages use correct language and grammar, and whether the messages are written in a formal format, it said.
Eighty-one percent of global respondents mentioned clues that would not be useful in identifying fraudulent messages, Visa said.
For example, 46 percent of respondents said they would trust messages more if they appear to come from a well-known company, it said.
While 60 percent of respondents said they would check whether the message comes from a reliable number, less than 50 percent said they would check messages for spelling errors, it added.
Cryptocurrency users were better at identifying scams, as 49 percent of them said they would check a suspicious message’s source, compared with an average of 37 percent of respondents who do not use cryptocurrency, Visa said.
Eighty-seven percent of fraudulent texts involve solution-type scams, which urge people to respond to a problem statement or offer, either through an instruction or suggestion, and usually involve clicking a link, the company said.
Generally, fraudsters try to have their target perform a particular action by either suggesting a problem, such as a lost package, or making a tempting offer, such as a prize, Visa said.
Some of the top 10 phrases used in scams were “click here,” “gift card,” “48 hours,” “winning prize” and “account information,” it said.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
