WARNING! A mass SMS text message scam went out this afternoon that reads basically: “FRM: Account Service MSG: You are required to accept the new Terms of Service now:” and then it gives you a shortened link such as https://goo.gl/hdDpNE. The sample we received is from the phone number 1410200502, but yours may say something different.

This particular text message scam first reared its ugly head in August of 2017. While the exact one may have died out, plenty of others have arisen to take its place, including the recent Wells Fargo text message scam, and the Netflix text message scam of last year.

Back to the “Account Service” SMS scam. As it turns out, this is a phishing scam that is designed to steal your Facebook credentials. If you click the link (see below) it takes you to a (poorly made) Facebook clone page, saying that you must confirm your identity.

Whatever you do, don’t click on that link! This is the actual link to which the cloaked link goes: http://m.facebook.com———-terms-of-service-agreement-userid-58899132.inky.be/

See how they tried to mask it so that all you would see is the “m.facebook.com”, but the actualy domain is m.facebook.com———-terms-of-service-agreement-userid-58899132.inky.be?

We at the Internet Patrol know how to research these things while defusing them, so we can show you what you would see if you did click on the link:

The text says “Dear user, Your Facebook account must be confirmed today in order to avoid disabling! This process is quick and must be done by all of our users as an extra security measure. If you fail to confirm your account today it will be limited and then disabled!”

This is designed to steal your Facebook credentials!

If you did get taken in by this and you did click the “Confirm your identity now” button, don’t feel bad, but DO CHANGE YOUR FACEBOOK PASSWORD ASAP!!

Remember, it is a rare legitimate company or service – if any – that will send you a text message with a link and a message that suggests that you urgently need to follow that link. Any time you do get a text message like this, run, do not walk, to your computer, and log in to that company’s website to confirm that everything is fine with your account there (as it almost always will be). And there will never be a situation where the need is legitimate, but it does not also appear in your account on the website, only in the text message.

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Author: Anne P. Mitchell

Attorney at Law at Institute for Social Internet Public Policy

Anne is an attorney, CEO of ISIPP, and Dean of Cyberlaw and Cybersecurity at Lincoln Law School.

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Warning: Do NOT Click on Text Message "FRM: Account Service"!

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WARNING: A mass SMS text message scam went out this afternoon that reads basically: "FRM: Account Service MSG: You are required to accept the new Terms of Service now:" and then it gives you a shortened link such as https://goo.gl/hdDpNE. The sample we received is from the phone number 1410200502, but yours may say something different.