People click because the text looked like a package, a bank, a grandchild, or a virus warning. You are allowed to close the page and tell someone. RingMyTech can help you read the screen and find the official report pages. We cannot reverse a payment or investigate a crime.
This page is the focused version of Scam help. If you also let someone control the computer, use remote-access scams. If money moved, use what to do after sending money.
If you only looked
If you did not enter a password, a code, or a payment, close the page. Do not call any number it showed. Do not download a file it offered. If the browser will not close, turn off Wi-Fi and restart the device. Then use the device normally. A single visit to a bad page, with nothing typed, is often the end of the incident.
Tell one trusted person what the message said, so the same link is not opened on a second phone in the house.
If you entered a password or a code
Change that password from a device the other person is not controlling. Use a bookmark or a typed address, not a second link from the same message. Start with email, because password resets for other accounts arrive there. Then change the bank if that password was reused.
If you read a two-factor code to anyone, treat the account as exposed. Change the password and review recent activity. The explanation of codes is on two-factor authentication. Sign out other sessions if the account offers that control.
If you entered payment information
Call the bank or card company using the number on the card. Tell them the charge or the number may be fraud. Watch the account. Do not send more money to a person who says they can reverse it for a fee. Report the message at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
What RingMyTech will and will not do
We will look at the message with you, help you reach a site you choose, and help you change a password you still control. We will not ask for the password, the one-time code, a Social Security number, or a Medicare number. We will not stay on the line with the original caller.
Keep the suspicious message until you have reported it, then delete it. You do not need to study every similar text that arrives later. The standing patterns are in the Scam Awareness Center.
Unsure whether something is legitimate?
Read the message as it is. You do not have to decide alone, and you do not have to click first.
Sources
RingMyTech explains these topics in plain language. The agencies below publish the primary guidance.