If your phone seems to light up with suspicious texts right when your day gets busy, you may not be imagining it.
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you → seem → it
New research from cybersecurity company Malwarebytes suggests scammers have gotten much more strategic about when they contact you and where they do it.
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they → suggest → it
The company analyzed global threat data collected between April 15 and July 14, 2026.
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company → analyze → April
Researchers tracked more than 20 scam categories.
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Researchers → track → categories
They found that criminals often choose the platform that gives a particular scam the best chance of working.
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that → find → chance
For Americans, scam text volume peaked around 12 p.m. ET.
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volume → peak → ET
That was about 874% higher than at 1 a.m. ET, the quietest hour Malwarebytes observed.
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Malwarebytes → observe → ET
Scam text volume also climbed as the week went on.
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week → climb → ?
It reached its highest point on Friday, when people received roughly 50% more fraudulent texts than at the beginning of the week.
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people → reach → week
That tells me scammers are paying attention to more than what they send you.
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they → tell → you
They are also watching when you may be most likely to see it.
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you → watch → it
And the timing is only part of the strategy, because the type of scam often determines exactly where they try to reach you.
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they → determine → you
In this free live online class, Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson will show you five practical ways AI can help you take a more active role in your healthcare.
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you → show → healthcare
You’ll learn how to organize your health history, remember important appointment details, understand complicated medical information, research prescriptions and prepare questions for your next doctor’s visit.
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You → learn → visit
No technical experience is needed.
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experience → need → ?
Scammers are choosing the best place to reach you
Different scams tend to favor different platforms.
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scams → choose → platforms
Malwarebytes found that job scams commonly arrive through email.
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scams → find → email
Romance scams favor social media, where conversations with new people feel more natural.
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conversations → favor → people
Meanwhile, tech support scams frequently start with a phone call.
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scams → start → call
That makes sense when you think about how each scam works.
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scam → make → sense
A fake recruiter can blend into a busy inbox.
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recruiter → blend → inbox
Someone starting a conversation on social media may seem harmless.
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Someone → start → media
A caller claiming your computer has a serious problem can immediately put you under pressure.
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computer → claim → pressure
The channel becomes part of the trick.
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channel → become → trick
We've seen that with changing tech support scams.
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We → see → scams
They can now begin with fake invoices, bogus security alerts or convincing support pages.
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They → begin → invoices
The web remains scammers' favorite doorway
You hear plenty about scam texts and suspicious DMs.
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You → remain → texts
However, the web remains the leading way scams reach people in Malwarebytes' data.
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scams → remain → data
Email came next, followed by SMS.
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Email → come → SMS
Malwarebytes says it blocks around 500,000 phishing websites every day.
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it → say → websites
That number gives you an idea of how many fake pages criminals keep pushing online.
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criminals → give → pages
Others imitate technology companies or government services.
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Others → imitate → companies
A link in a text can take you straight to one of these pages.
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link → take → pages
The fake site may look polished enough to fool you at first glance.
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site → look → glance
So, when a message says something has gone wrong with an account, resist the urge to use the link it provides.
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it → say → link
Scam texts hit their peak around lunchtime
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texts → hit → lunchtime
Here's the part that really caught my attention.
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that → catch → attention
Malwarebytes found that scam texts targeting Americans reached their highest volume around 12 p.m. ET.
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texts → find → ET
Think about what your phone habits look like around lunchtime.
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habits → think → lunchtime
You could be leaving a meeting, grabbing something to eat or checking messages between errands.
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You → leave → errands
…and 100 more, not listed.
The Aporia
