Are the scammers getting more sophisticated, or am I getting dumber? I got an alert through Norton 360 about an attempt to apply for a payday loan (yes, going through the verified website shows it). As a result, I put a fraud alert and freeze on my three credit bureaus. Gemini suggested alternative credit agencies to freeze as well, so I'm working on that. Still kind of dumb to need to do this since they are also owned by the big three.
Fast forward a few days, I get two text messages. One is addressed to a name that is not me, advising me to text them to set up a call to review my application. I get a second text from some verification company using a short text number. The full company name is listed, but the link is not the same domain.
Instead of just blocking like usual, do I give in and text back to say bugger off? If I just ignore and it was legit fraud, I don't want to be responsible. I guess it would be easy to prove since the name isn't mine and the gender is wrong.
I really wish it was mandatory to run all lending requests through the big two.