Maximum scam alert: "If you receive this text message and do NOT delete the number immediately, you will pay dearly."

It's no secret that SMS messages, despite being largely obsolete due to the rise of messaging apps like WhatsApp, have become very popular when it comes to carrying out scams.

This is because SMS text messages are still used by institutions and official bodies to communicate with citizens and customers. For example, banks continue to send them, and even the City Council and the DGT (Directorate-General for Traffic) also use them. That's why, despite being aware of the dangers, we often continue to fall for these scams that deceive us.

And that's why authorities have issued a high-alert warning for a new SMS scam that has been proliferating in recent weeks and causing significant financial losses to those who fall for it.

Marc Dubois, a 62-year-old retired teacher, recently fell victim to this scam and shared his experience in an attempt to raise awareness about the danger. It all began with the arrival of an SMS that appeared to be from his bank, alerting him that a €300 transfer had been made from his account.

The message told him to follow the link to confirm or cancel the bank transaction , and Marc, panicking, quickly and without thinking, clicked on it to try to cancel the transaction, without stopping to think about whether it was a scam or not.

"I clicked on the link immediately because I was afraid of losing a large sum of money. Only after entering my details did I realize something was wrong," says Marc.

The problem was that a few hours later, Marc discovered that 2,000 euros had been stolen from his account . He immediately contacted his bank, which confirmed that it was a scam and that there was nothing they could do to fix it.

• Never click on links included in unsolicited text messages, even if they appear to be from a trusted source.
• Never provide personal or financial information via text messages.
• Always verify the authenticity of messages by contacting the corresponding entity directly using an official number.
• Install antivirus software on your mobile devices to block malicious websites and links.