Text message scams surging: Know the warning signs of a 'robotext'

How often do you see an alert on your phone telling you there's a problem with one of your deliveries? With the peak holiday shopping season about to hit, knowing how to spot a phone scam is more important than ever.

Eric Schwartz received a text alert on his phone recently.

"I noticed it was from the USPS (U.S. Postal Service)," he said.

He paid attention because he was waiting for a package.

"It said, 'Your package arrived at the warehouse but could not be delivered due to incomplete address information,'" he said. "I clicked on the link without hesitation. I updated my information and all of a sudden, it is asking for a credit card."

He stopped at that point, and it was a good thing because it was really a text scam.

SEE MORE: Customers confused Amazon scam warning email for an actual scam

Robotexts exploding in 2023

The spam-blocking app Robokiller says robocalls are actually down 21% compared to last year, but robotexts shot up 18%.

Of all the text scams out there, one category stands out among the rest: delivery scams.

Robokiller's Giulia Porter says scammers pay attention to what consumers are doing. And right now, many are adding more items to their online shopping carts.

"What we're seeing is, of course, scams that are trying to catch you when you're not paying attention and really mimic, you know, real texts you might receive," she said.

SEE MORE: Widow loses life savings in romance scam that started on a gaming app

Warning signs of a text scam

Since you can sign up for legitimate delivery notifications with stores and shipping companies, how do you know what's real? There are obvious signs, like spelling and grammatical errors to watch for.

Or look for "urgent" requests, saying "action is required."

Porter says a legitimate business request would likely come via email, not just through text, so that's a red flag.

Robokiller and similar apps can help stop these spam texts.

"We have technology that, you know, is very smart within less than a second at identifying if an incoming call or text is a scam," Porter said,

Just know you'll pay a fee. Robokiller is $4.99 a month.

Schwartz says these texts are so convincing.

"I really didn't hesitate," she said.