"The first one came in at 12:30 at night," explains Irv Clever.
An odd hour for him to receive a text message from a number he did not recognize.
"One of them said I had a security lock out on my bank card," he explains.
Which provoked him to call his banking service provider to find out what was happening.
"They told me that they never send out a text message."
It's part of a scam hitting several people here in Abilene.
Viewers posted messages they have received on my Facebook page, saying their accounts were frozen, they were selected for an iPad, or needed to claim money.
"I did talk to the Better Business Bureau," says Clever.
The BBB told him the recent string of scams are known as smishing.
"It's a variation of fishing text messages are just another way of contacting people in trying to trick people into going places through their cell phone," explains Steve Abel.
Abel is advising people to be on the lookout and never relinquish your personal information.
He says, "Know that your bank, the government, agencies that you do business with generally don't text you."
In the age of technology, Clever admits this probably will not be the last time someone tries to scam him, but at least he'll be prepared.
"It's easy for them to get information and so forth and the less you give out, then the better you're going to be," says Clever.
An odd hour for him to receive a text message from a number he did not recognize.
"One of them said I had a security lock out on my bank card," he explains.
Which provoked him to call his banking service provider to find out what was happening.
"They told me that they never send out a text message."
It's part of a scam hitting several people here in Abilene.
Viewers posted messages they have received on my Facebook page, saying their accounts were frozen, they were selected for an iPad, or needed to claim money.
"I did talk to the Better Business Bureau," says Clever.
The BBB told him the recent string of scams are known as smishing.
"It's a variation of fishing text messages are just another way of contacting people in trying to trick people into going places through their cell phone," explains Steve Abel.
Abel is advising people to be on the lookout and never relinquish your personal information.
He says, "Know that your bank, the government, agencies that you do business with generally don't text you."
In the age of technology, Clever admits this probably will not be the last time someone tries to scam him, but at least he'll be prepared.
"It's easy for them to get information and so forth and the less you give out, then the better you're going to be," says Clever.
