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What's the number one text message scam that's putting your hard-earned money at risk and how can you identify and avoid it? We speak with entity businesses Don Ma to find out. Don Ma, thank you so much for joining us. Great to have you back on the show. Always a pleasure, Tiffany. Don, what is the number one text scam that people are falling for? All right, Tiff, you ready for this? The most reported text message scam, according to the Federal Trade Commission, is bank impersonations. So reports of bank impersonations by text in 2022 jumped 20 times the number reported compared to 2019, Tiff. That is wild. And are people actually falling for these scams? You know, unfortunately, I have to say a lot of people are falling for this and it's not just bank impersonations. According to the FTC, consumers reported a loss of more than $330 million to text message scams in 2022. And the thing is, cash lost because of bank fraud or scams isn't even covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or National Credit Union Administration. Wow. And Don, tell us about the tactics these scammers are using to get people to fall for them. Yeah, great question, Tiff. So text message scammers will do things like trying to make you feel like an action is required immediately. It may come as an urgent message warning you to call or click on a link because of alleged suspicious activity. Major banks were actually very popular choices for scammers to impersonate in 2022. And according to the FTC, the most common scam text messages often claim to be from large banks. That's like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Chase, Citibank. And let me just describe to you one particular kind of text scam. This method resulted in a median loss of $3,000 in 2022. So according to the FTC, it goes something like this. You get a text message from someone impersonating your bank and it's giving you instructions to reply with a yes or no message to confirm or deny suspicious transactions. And once you replied, the scammer would call you under the guise of helping you. But the ultimate goal here is to try to either fraudulently transfer money out of your account or obtain personal information like a social security number. So that's just a few tactics here. And Don, given how serious this is, any tips on how to identify these and how to tell what's the real bank versus these fake ones? Right. Another very good question. So with any decision about your finances, avoid taking actions when you feel scared, stressed or pressured. This is this is really the key rule of thumb here. Don't make money moves under pressure. Your bank will not use pressure tactics against you. And another tip is is don't click on any links that are texted to you. Always confirm the text message is telling you is real by going to official websites, whether that's your bank website or a postal service website. And finally, if a text message is telling you to call a number or respond, you know, just don't do it. Always double check anything you find suspicious or raising red flags. But if you should happen to fall for a text scammer impersonating your bank, alert your bank. And of the incident and make sure no money is leaving your account fraudulently. Some life tips right there, Donma. Thank you so much. Thanks, Tiffany.