The text that looked like my bank

Last month, at about eleven at night, I got a text message that looked like it came from my bank. It said that someone had tried to use my card in another country, and that my account would be locked within an hour. To stop this, I had to click a link and confirm my details. The message used the bank's name and logo, and it looked completely real.

My heart was racing. The message seemed so urgent that I nearly clicked the link without thinking. The page that opened asked for my card number and my online banking password. I had typed half of the number when something made me stop. Why would a bank ask for my password? My bank always says it will never request that information.

Instead of continuing, I closed the page and called the number on the back of my card. A calm man at the bank told me that I had done the right thing. The text was a scam, and hundreds of customers had received the same one that week. The criminals wanted to scare people into acting quickly, before they had time to think. He checked my account and promised that nobody had gained access to it.

I was lucky, but my aunt was not. A few months earlier, she had become the victim of a similar trick and lost almost two million dong. She felt so ashamed that she did not tell anyone for weeks. In fact, many people keep quiet after a scam, which only helps the criminals.

Now I follow a few simple rules to protect myself. I treat every urgent message with suspicion, especially if it contains a link. I never type a password on a page I opened from a text. And whenever I am not sure, I ignore the message and call the company myself. It takes a few extra minutes, but it is better to be safe than sorry.