If you recently got a text message like the one in the picture, you are not alone. I too, received the text, and reached out to my friend Marvin Carpenter at  AT&T to make sure I was okay. Things start running though your head like, uh did I not renew that plan?

No one wants their phone turned off. These days, even if you don't own your own business you have to use your phone for work. Two factor authentication is on almost every program I use these days. You NEED your phone to work.

If you got that text, and you didn't have AT&T that would have been your first indication that something was wrong. I have AT&T, and it looked sort of like texts I had gotten from them in the past. Luckily, I have been trained to think everything is fake and a scam, sad world we live in. This time it paid off, I didn't click anything. Now scammers don't have access to my phone or tablet.

That is really all it takes to invite them in. Clicking a link. All of the anti virus software in the world can't help you if you click a link like this. It creates a back door into your PC, tablet or phone. One that could just stay open until someone wanted to take the time to steal your information.

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It's a strange new world, and scammers will always be there. Waiting to take advantage of you. If you see something, even a text, that seems suspicious, trust your gut. Doing so could keep your data safe in the future.

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