Huntington Beach police issue warning about text message scam

Huntington Beach police issued a warning Saturday that a widely distributed text message claiming to be from the Police Department is a hoax.

The department announced on its Facebook page that the message may be a phishing attempt, a type of scam that uses a fraudulent message appearing to come from a legitimate source to elicit sensitive information.

The message claims that Huntington Beach police were looking into the recipient’s phone “for criminal activity.” It then lists the Police Department’s Main Street address and phone number.

“Please note, this is a scam and we are NOT attempting to contact you via text message,” Huntington Beach police said on their Facebook page. “Delete the text and do not respond, as it may be a phishing scam.”

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Twitter: @BradleyZint