These scammers are getting more crafty. I have recently noticed attempts purporting to be from Venmo. In these texts they bait you with the allure of a potential $100 gift in exchange for a quick 2 minute survey. I worked in research during my prior career and paying a participant $100 in exchange for 2 minutes of their time is overwhelmingly too good to be true. Additionally, the link they push out is clearly a scammy link. In reality, by you tapping that link, you will not receive the $100 nor will your phone or personal information be safe going forward.

"Venmo User: You have been selected to receive a free gift worth at least $100 for a 2 minute survey  [LINK]"

"Dear Venmo Customer, You have been selected to receive a free gift valued at least $125 for a 4 minute survey [LINK]"

This is a different style. This came through yesterday evening and it is mimicking some of the texts that companies send you to alert you about something regarding your account. Most of the time they are alerts like "You are out of data" or "Your payment has been received". This text takes that similar approach but tries to force you to click a clearly malicious link through the allure of a possible gift. Firstly, my name is not James, secondly I didn't even pay a bill. Please stay vigilant.

I also received two more similar messages, but in this case they are regarding my "bill is processed". First of all that makes no sense, secondly the message purports to be from "AT&T" but they clearly misspelled it as "ATT". Lastly, why would anyone freely give you a gift for paying your bill? Too good to be true.

"AT&T Free Msg: bill is paid. Thanks, [NAME]! Here's a little gift for you: [LINK]"

"(ATT) Latest bill processed! Thank you for your support. Here's a little something for you >> [LINK]"