Smishing is a fast growing version of one of the most established and lucrative scams on the internet. Smishing, like other forms of phishing, aims to trick you into revealing sensitive data and information; however, instead of email, cybercriminals use text messaging or short message services (SMS) to interact with you. Smish attempts are frequently delivered as regular SMS to mobile phone subscribers, but they can also be sent via popular messaging apps.
Smishing is a type of social engineering in which fraudsters exploit emotions such as fear, sympathy, curiosity, or greed to induce others to reveal personal or business information. They manage this by sending fake messages to your phone or other mobile device that appear to be from a trustworthy source, such as a delivery service, utility supplier, bank, or government agency.
The information they seek could include usernames, passwords, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, vendor names, and other confidential data. The data is subsequently sold on the dark web by cybercriminals, who can also employ it to steal identities, empty bank accounts, or reroute funds to themselves.
Smishing is more tempting to cybercriminals since users are more likely to trust texts over other kinds of communication. In fact, people respond to 45 percent of their texts, but only 6 percent of their emails receive a response. This is most likely due to years of email oversaturation; inboxes bombarded with promotional offers and spam have been trained users to be wary.
Prevention tips
Here are five ways to prevent scammers from stealing private data:
- Never click on hyperlinks in texts from suspicious or unknown numbers. If the link is a brief, shortened URL, this is twice as true. Shorter URLs are frequently cited as a telltale sign that fraudsters are attempting to conceal obviously fake URLs in SMS messages.
- Be cautious; if you are persuaded to pay or disclose personal information, take a moment to confirm that the source is authentic and trustworthy.
- Never respond to texts from unknown or suspect numbers, especially if they ask you to do so. This notifies scammers that your phone number is active, and you may be added to spam lists and harassed further.
- To protect against malware concealed in smishing URLs, keep your phone's operating system up to date at all times.
- Pay attention to telltale signs of social engineering, such as urgent messages or get-rich-quick schemes. If something appears to be too good to be true, it most likely is.
