Press releases are posted on Independent.com as a free community service.
SACRAMENTO – The Employment Development Department (EDD) continues to urge Californians to guard against fraud. The latest round of text-message schemes called “smishing” tries to trick people into clicking a link in a text to supposedly reactivate their account. The message proclaims such an action is necessary as part of EDD’s transition from Bank of America to Money Network and this is not true.
Here is an example of the scam text message:
EDD will never request personal information by text message, email, or on social media. Text messages asking to activate a benefits debit card by selecting a link are scams in attempts to get people to give up their personal identifying information. Real text messages from EDD only link to websites that include “edd.ca.gov”.
The Department encourages customers to remain vigilant and safeguard their financial and personal information. Visit Help Fight Fraud for tips on how to avoid scams.