Smishing
Phishing carried by text message or messaging apps, pushing you to tap a malicious link.
Smishing is phishing delivered by SMS or messaging apps rather than email — the word simply blends 'SMS' with 'phishing'. A short text poses as a courier, your bank, a tax office or a streaming service, carries a link, and pushes you to tap before you think. Because a phone screen hides most of a web address and texts feel personal, these often land more readily than their email cousins.
Common scripts include a missed-delivery notice demanding a small fee, a warning that a payment failed, or an alert that someone has logged into your account. Numbers are cheap to fake, so a message that appears to sit inside a genuine thread from your bank can still be a fraud. The rule that defends against all of them: do not use the link or number in the text — reach the company through its official app or a contact you already trust. UK recipients can forward scam texts free to 7726 so networks can investigate and block the sender.