What’s smishing? A fraudulent text message pretending to be from a reputable source. We have been alerted to a smishing scam that involves a hacker posing as Republic Services Executive Leadership. These fraudulent texts are targeting our employees. They look like this:
To avoid these scams, follow these best practices:
- Don’t be rushed. Smishing scams attempt to create a false sense of urgency by implying that an immediate response is required or that there is a limited time to respond.
- Don’t reply, even if the message says you can “text STOP” to avoid more messages. That tells them your number is active and can then be sold to other bad actors.
- Don’t provide sensitive personal information in response to text messages – from known or unknown senders.
- Do copy the message and forward it to 7726 (SPAM). This helps your wireless provider spot and block similar messages in the future.
- Do report it on the messaging app you use. Look for the option to report junk or spam.
Republic Services maintains controls to help protect our networks and devices, but we also rely on you to help with our defense. If you believe that you have fallen for a phishing scam at work or have questions, contact InfoSec@republicservices.com.