Rogers Communications Inc. is advising Canadians to be wary of SMS phishing scams that promise to refund consumers for a system outage that occurred earlier last week. Users were unable to use cellular voice and data networks after the network experienced a nationwide blackout a week ago. Threat actors are also sending fraudulent text messages to recipients, instructing them to click on a link to receive a rebate.
An SMS circulated on social media falsely reports that “R0GERS WIRELESS INC.” (spelled with a zero instead of an O) is providing a $50 credit to anyone who clicks on a link provided.
Rogers Communications Inc. is a communications and publishing corporation based in Canada. With substantial additional telecommunications and mass media infrastructure, it mainly functions in the areas of cellular broadcasting, cable television, telephony, and Internet connectivity. Rogers' offices are located in Toronto and Ontario. While the business dates back to 1925, when Edward S. Rogers Sr. formed Rogers Vacuum Tube Company to market battery less radios, the current venture dates back to 1960, when Ted Rogers and a partner purchased the CHFI-FM radio station, and then became part-owners of a consortium that created the CFTO television station.
Rogers replied that it never sends credit alerts via text message and advises anyone who receives one to ignore the embedded link. Furthermore, the credit amount will vary based on the cellular plan and will not include a registration link, according to the company.
According to Ericsson, the 16-hour wireless system blackout on April 19th was triggered by a software update that caused devices to be disconnected from the network. A message from Rogers CTO Jorge Fernandes to customers the next day said, "We have addressed the software issue and our engineering and technical teams will continue to work around the clock with the Ericsson team to restore full services for our customers."
The links in these texts all point to websites that are hosted on an IP address rather than a domain name. It's unclear what information was phished because the pages have all been taken offline, but it's definitely Rogers customers' personal and account information.
Rogers is aware of the scam and has advised users to "forward the content of the SMS to 7726 (SPAM), to register it for investigation/blocking from the network," according to a tweet from the company.
