Mobile phones are great for keeping in touch and getting online. But what we’re seeing more and more are texts that are actually scams. 

How many of us have received a message and thought, or almost thought, is this genuine? How many of us acted on such messages, sharing our details or banking information, only to then realise this was a clever trick that we fell for? How many of us have felt embarrassed, or lost money as a result? The answer is far too many unfortunately. 

Scam text messages have become very sophisticated and often impersonate organisations we routinely interact with, such as the Department for Work and Pensions or the tax office. Across the Citizens Advice network in Scotland we see real-life cases where scam texts threaten to cause real harm to people.  

Take Stuart for example (name changed). Stuart, who is in his late forties, visited his local CAB because he’d received text messages advising him that he had missed a Universal Credit (UC) payment. Stuart uses an online journal to manage his UC and had received legitimate texts about UC before, but this time was different. As the CAB adviser pointed out to him, the texts were different from the legitimate messages about UC that he had received. Stuart was advised to ignore and report these suspicious messages and also how to spot others in future. Without the advice of his local CAB, he may have lost a substantial sum of money.  

Other scam texts specifically target vulnerable groups, including older people or those with a disability. Advisers across our network regularly support people to be aware of these scams, but there are many vulnerable people who trust these messages and lose out as a result.   

Another concern for us is scammers impersonating the Citizens Advice network itself. This can damage the public trust that we’ve built over the last 90 years. It is a real worry for those of us working in the free advice sector in Scotland. 

So, what can be done to address scam text messages? The good news is that the regulator (Ofcom) is already on the case. It wants mobile providers to set volume limits on pay-as-you-go SIM cards, to make it harder for scammers to reach large numbers of people. It also wants mobile providers to block numbers that are suspected of being fake and stop scam messages in transit so they never reach the intended target. These plans draw on existing best practice in the sector.  

However, for this strategy to be effective, all mobile providers would have to do it, and this is not currently the case. Ofcom is in the process of introducing measures to make it compulsory, and we support them completely in this.   

In the meantime, if you are worried that a text or other communication you have received might not be genuine, remember that support is available. As ever, your local CAB is there to offer free, confidential and impartial advice. We’re not here to judge, we just help. 

Gillian Fyfe is head of the Strong Communities team at Citizens Advice Scotland

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