I got this text message yesterday. It looked completely authentic. The amount looks real too, and not rounded off! It was very tempting to click the link and know more. Then I remembered something I use extensively in the background. @Bitly, the company behind the 1/5 
2/5 short-URLs, has a nifty process where it shows the number of hits of *any* short URL created with its service (by anyone), to *anyone* if you add a '+' at the end. In case you did not know - copy-paste any bitly short URL, add a + in the end and enter. I did that with the
3/5 bitly URL mentioned in the text message. And this is what I got!! A Russian domain (dot ru!). Sure-shot spam! And then, look at the details!
1. Created on December 11, just a day before.
1. Created on December 11, just a day before.
4/5
2. Clicked 4K+ times in one day!
2. Clicked 4K+ times in one day!
5/5
3. Email/sms is the most prominent source of clicks!
4. 3.8K+ clicks from India!
I have no idea what the URL, upon clicking, may do, but thank bitly and my marginally better awareness of how it works for helping me figure that this was a spam! A very convincing spam!
3. Email/sms is the most prominent source of clicks!
4. 3.8K+ clicks from India!
I have no idea what the URL, upon clicking, may do, but thank bitly and my marginally better awareness of how it works for helping me figure that this was a spam! A very convincing spam!
Related: where that scam URL takes you - Looks so real!!
Looks like the scale and magnitude of the problem was big enough to warrant a quick email from the IT department!
