![\"Close](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761442382_294_960x0.jpg\")
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Delete all these texts.<\/p>\n
getty<\/p>\n
You have been repeatedly warned \u2014 your smartphone is under attack from malicious texts which China\u2019s organized criminal gangs<\/a> have turned into a ruthless, billion-dollar<\/a> industry. The red flags are easy to detect \u2014 if you know what to look for.<\/p>\n The latest warning targets New Yorkers, where the fictitious New York Department of Revenue has become the latest real or imagined organization to lure victims. This joins countless DMVs, toll road agencies, package delivery firms and support desks.<\/p>\n ForbesDo Not Use Google Chrome On Your iPhone, Warns Apple\u2014\u2018Known Trackers\u2019By Zak Doffman<\/a><\/p>\n Thomas DiNapoli \u2014 the State\u2019s Comptroller \u2014 warns citizens \u201cWe\u2019re seeing an increase in fraudulent texts and emails claiming to come from the New York Department of Revenue. Did you get this text? If so, you\u2019re not alone but it is a scam.\u201d<\/p>\n The usual caveats apply. We\u2019ve seen the same from dozens of state DMVs and toll agencies<\/a>, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies<\/a>, and a raft of others. The agency \u201cwill NEVER ask for your private information or payment through an unsolicited text, email or phone call.” Ditto your payment card details or passwords.<\/p>\n DiNapoli points out the red flags, two of which always mean an attack. The first is an overseas number. No U.S. federal or state agency will text from a number that isn\u2019t a short-code or that begins +1. The number shown is the Philippines, one of the countries where banks of phones with consumer SIMs churn out malicious texts by the millions.<\/p>\n The second is the top-level domain (TLD), the identifier after the final dot in the link that originates the domain\u2019s issuer. Mainstream organizations will use a dot-com whilst government agencies will use a dot-gov. A random domain \u2014 such as the dot-cc here or the likes of dot-top or dot-win or dot-xyz \u2014 is a blatant sign the text is an attack<\/a>.<\/p>\n As I\u2019ve warned before, sometimes scammers will disguise the TLD with hyphens<\/a> to introduce \u201cgov\u201d or com” into the link, aiming to trick a casual glance. Make sure you check carefully, although the real advice is never to click any such links.<\/p>\n