They’re Even Targeting Your Texts Now! #HotspotShield

      

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Having a husband who works in the IT business and is as computer savvy as they come, makes one very pro-active when it comes to internet security.  I know all about phishing scams, malware, trojans and key loggers.  I know to never click on links in e-mails, to check and make sure https is in a url when supplying any personal information and to use multiple passwords and logins for websites.

But something threw me for a loop this morning… I noticed when I checked my phone that I had an unread text message.

My first thought was that someone else just typed in their phone number wrong.  It happens.  Goodness knows my pudgy fingers hit the wrong keys on that tiny keyboard all the time.  But I just couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something shifty about this.

So since the text came from “Google” I figured I’d Google the number the text came from and see what I found.

Sure enough, these Mommy gut instincts were correct and I found a thread on a forum indicating the shadiness of the text in question.

And just when I thought I had all my bases covered – those hackers throw texts into the mix too.  Darn you Hackers, darn you!  Maybe I’m behind the times on this new game they have going, but this was the first text like this I’ve ever received.

In light of this newest way to gain access to one’s data, I’m glad I run Hotspot Shield on my phone.

It offers you protection on your device from malware, phishing, plus spam & malicious sites.  So HAD I clicked on that verification text link (because maybe when I sleepwalk I sign up for Gmail accounts, and I thought that perhaps this was legit?  Who knows?!), I at least have the FREE Hotspot Shield app watching my back.  Or is it my front?  Well really, they’re looking out for me all over apparently!

You can learn more about Hotspot Shield on their website, connect with them on Twitter and Facebook.

Have you ever gotten a shady text link like this?  Did you catch on before you clicked it?  Did you text back asking who the ‘Messager’ was?  Ugh, are you as frustrated as I am that nothing is sacred anymore when it comes to data?  Do you have a protection app installed on your smart phone?

While I am compensated by Hotspot Shield to share my experiences with it, the opinions in this post are entirely my own.  I really did receive that shifty text link and if you look closely at that second picture you can see the number it came from, go ahead and block it on your phone just in case they find your mobile number!