We are all besieged with text messages that feature ads and scam bills and such. I will cover that on this page. One of the ways to tell if a message is from your bank or credit card company is to check the short code. When we get messages from a friend that is in our contacts their name appears as the person we’re getting the message from. If we don’t know that person the phone number will show up at the top of the text. Below is a screenshot of a short code message. It is just a general automated message. Right at the center and top is a round circle and the numbers 74121 right below it. Normally if it was from a person not in your contact list it would have their name up there with the typical area code and phone number. The 74121 is an example of a short code.

When we get a text message from a bank or a retailer like Amazon on a delivery they use a short code like you see in the example above. A short code is simply an abbreviated phone number. It’s usually three to six or so numbers. As an example, I’m putting a link below to the Chase Bank list of short codes. You will see that you get texts concerning different notifications using different short codes. Each company has their own and they stay the same.

https://www.chase.com/digital/resources/privacy-security/security/self-service-text-messages

You can check with your financial institution and get their short codes and then you can compare those to messages that you receive. Put these short codes into a word document and print it out so that you can compare them to texts that you receive. If you get a message out of the blue from Chase Bank or any financial entity and it does not match the short codes that they use, there is a good chance that it is fake. Always be careful if you get a text message that is an actual phone number sending you a bill, especially if it is supposedly from a financial entity. Take it with a grain of salt. If you are concerned about it, find the normal phone number for that entity and call them.

You will also get alert messages from retailers like Best Buy and Amazon letting you know about a purchase or delivery. You can record these if you want on a Word document and print it out to compare with what you receive on your phone. Don’t panic when you get these notifications. We will get a lot of texts that inform us of a package on the way that we’ve ordered, a payment for an item we purchased has been made, our credit card payment has posted, etc. As I said in the section on Know Your Finances, just be aware of normal financial activity that is passing through your accounts.

*********DON’T EVER CALL A PHONE NUMBER IN A TEXT**********

Always get a phone number off of your bank statement, credit card, retailer, etc. to use when calling about an issue. If possible just go to the bank if it is something regarding finances.

For the most part, many of these text messages are just junk. The key is don’t panic and start reacting to them. Take them with a grain of salt and just do a little homework in your accounts to make sure that nothing has actually taken place that can put you in jeopardy.