A code from a text message is the key to your home

Cartoon

Meet Dana, Greg’s daughter. She is 21 and a college student. Dana is selling her old jacket on a website for used items.

Dana: Yay, he didn’t even try to haggle!

And sure enough, a text message with a code arrives on her phone.

Dana: Wait… It says "sign-in code". What does signing in have to do with a payment?

Greg: Exactly. This code is not for a payment, it’s for getting into your chats. The crook is trying to sign in to your account, and the code was sent to you. Tell him the code, and your account is his.

Greg: To receive money, all you need is the card number. No codes, no expiration date, no three digits from the back.

If Dana had given away the code, the crook would get into her chats and ask all her friends for money in her name.

A code from a text is like the key to your home. You don’t hand it to strangers, however polite they are.

Exercise: can you share the code?

Six times Dana got a code or was asked for one. For each one, decide: is it dangerous or not?

• A buyer on a used-items website: «Send me the code from the text so the money for the item reaches your card.» — Dangerous. You don’t need a code to receive money. This is an attempt to take your account or your money.
• Telechat: «Your Telechat sign-in code: 73914. Never share this code with anyone.» — Safe. The code came because Dana is signing in herself. It’s fine to type it into her own app.
• Call: "delivery driver": «I have a package for you. Read me the code from the text so I can mark it delivered.» — Dangerous. If you’re not expecting anything, it’s a scam. And you never read sign-in codes even to a real driver.
• Unknown number: «Oops, I typed your number by mistake, and my code went to you. Could you forward it, please?» — Dangerous. There is no mistake: someone is signing in to your account. Don’t forward the code.
• A buyer on a used-items website: «Send me your card number, and I’ll pay you for the jacket.» — Safe. To send you money, the card number is enough. It’s fine to give it, but never the expiration date, the three digits on the back or any codes.
• Call: "the bank": «We are updating your card. Tell me the code you’re about to receive.» — Dangerous. A bank never asks for codes over the phone. Hang up.

What to remember

• A code from a text is a key: it opens your chats and your bank, and approves payments.
• Never read codes out to anyone: not a "buyer", not a "delivery driver", not "the bank".
• Read what the code is for. It says "to sign in", but you aren’t signing in? Then someone else is.
• To receive money, the card number is enough. Nothing else is needed.

Questions

A "buyer" asks for the code from a text so the money "goes through". What do you do?

• Send it: without the code the money won’t arrive
• Don’t send it: you don’t need a code to receive money
• Send half of the code

Money arrives by card number. It’s the crook who needs the code.

You get a text with a "sign-in code", but you aren’t signing in anywhere. What does it mean?

• Nothing, just a mistake
• Someone is trying to get into your account. Don’t tell anyone the code
• The bank is checking your phone

The code comes to you because someone is signing in to your account.

What can you give someone who is sending you money?

• Only the card number
• The card number and the expiration date
• The card number and the code from the text

Everything else is only needed to take money off your card.

What is a code from a text message like?

• A package number: you can tell it to anyone
• The key to your home: you don’t give it to strangers
• An ad: you just ignore it

Whoever gets the code signs in or pays in your name.