Phone fraudsters have turned to text messaging as another way to try and get money from people or to get their personal information. Manitoba Telecom Services says these culprits are using random number generators and computers to send out messages to unsuspecting people and that's how they can get to your cell phone. Some of the texts involve the traditional scam of telling you that you have won a prize but must first pay a fee before you can collect. Others claim to be from a bank wanting to verify your account information.

RCMP Sergeant Bert Paquet says we should not respond to these messages in any way.

"The best thing is to delete them, especially when it is lottery or sweepstakes companies advertising that you've won a prize but you need to pay some fee ahead of time. There's not a legitimate lottery in the world that will ask for an advance payment in order to allow a prize winner to receive that money. They're only after financial gain, financial information or personal information as part of identity theft attempts."

Paquet also urges us to talk to our elders or anyone else who may not be tech-savvy to warn them not to respond to these scam messages. He adds, if the problem persists, check with your local police detachment and share the scam information with them.

"A lot of that information is collected and shared with other police agencies and, in several cases, has been used in the laying of criminal charges against identified faudsters."