If you receive mobile banking text messages from your financial institution, take the "short code" (a special telephone number used to send and receive text messages) that identifies the bank and add it to your device's contact list, Tsukahara says. That way, you won't be fooled if you receive a text from an unknown number that purports to be your bank asking for personal information.
When added to your contact list, the short code should pop up with an identifying name, Tsukahara says. "You'll generally know with a high degree of certainty that the text is coming from the bank, because it is very hard for anybody to come in and spoof," he says.