In their relentless pursuit to steal your money Internet hackers are now sending text messages to residents of South Louisiana. Okay, they're probably sending these scam-bait messages to a lot of other places too but we're most concerned about your money. And in this case my money.

You see, I received on my personal phone not one, not two, but three scam-bait messages over the weekend. The messages informed me that my Amazon account and my Pay Pal accounts had been "suspended" for suspicious activities. The scam-bait messages look like this.

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Staff Photo
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That was the message saying my Amazon account had been compromised. When I didn't reply, those SOBs made good on their word to shut my Amazon account down.

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Staff Photo
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Here is the one that informed me that my PayPal account was under attack.

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Staff Photo
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There are a lot of things to be on the lookout for if you receive such a message. I guess for me the biggest red flag was that I do not have an account with PayPal and probably the biggest shock of all, I must be the only human on the planet that doesn't have an Amazon account. So There and ppppbbbbtttt to you bad guys.

Sarah Louise Kinsella via Unsplash.com
Sarah Louise Kinsella via Unsplash.com
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It's pretty hard to "reset your password" on an account that doesn't exist. However, savvy Internet individuals like you are not the prime focus of this article. I am asking you to reach out to your relatives, especially your older relatives who might still believe everything they see and read on the Internet or every message they get on their smartphones.

To the unsuspecting eye, these look like legit text messages and if you do business with Amazon or PayPal you most certainly want to know your account is secure. The best way to handle one of these texts is to ignore them. Even though you might want to send a picture of a giant middle finger to the number that texted you, don't. That just lets the scammers know your number is "live".

Phone Scam
Artur Digital Team Thinkstock
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Instead, contact Amazon Security through the website provided on your account. You can also contact PayPal Security, they will help you as well. They can also provide peace of mind that your account and your money are protected, at least until the scammers come up with another way to try and trick you. And trust me, they're trying really hard to do that.

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