smishing

February 1, 2021

U.K. Arrest in ‘SMS Bandits’ Phishing Service

This post was originally published on this siteAuthorities in the United Kingdom have arrested a 20-year-old man for allegedly operating an online service for sending high-volume phishing campaigns via mobile text messages. The service, marketed in the underground under the name “SMS Bandits,” has been responsible for blasting out huge volumes of phishing lures spoofing everything from COVID-19 pandemic relief efforts to PayPal, telecommunications providers and tax revenue agencies. The U.K.’s National Crime Agency (NCA) declined to name the suspect, but confirmed that the Metropolitan Police Service’s cyber crime unit had detained an individual from Birmingham in connection to a […]
November 4, 2021

‘Tis the Season for the Wayward Package Phish

This post was originally published on this siteThe holiday shopping season always means big business for phishers, who tend to find increased success this time of year with a lure about a wayward package that needs redelivery. Here’s a look at a fairly elaborate SMS-based phishing scam that spoofs FedEx in a bid to extract personal and financial information from unwary recipients. One of dozens of FedEx-themed phishing sites currently being advertised via SMS spam. Louis Morton, a security professional based in Fort Worth, Texas, forwarded an SMS phishing or “smishing” message sent to his wife’s mobile device that indicated […]
November 10, 2021

SMS About Bank Fraud as a Pretext for Voice Phishing

This post was originally published on this siteMost of us have probably heard the term “smishing” — which is a portmanteau for traditional phishing scams sent through SMS text messages. Smishing messages usually include a link to a site that spoofs a popular bank and tries to siphon personal information. But increasingly, phishers are turning to a hybrid form of smishing — blasting out linkless text messages about suspicious bank transfers as a pretext for immediately calling and scamming anyone who responds via text. KrebsOnSecurity recently heard from a reader who said his daughter received an SMS that said it […]
June 22, 2023

SMS Phishers Harvested Phone Numbers, Shipment Data from UPS Tracking Tool

This post was originally published on this siteThe United Parcel Service (UPS) says fraudsters have been harvesting phone numbers and other information from its online shipment tracking tool in Canada to send highly targeted SMS phishing (a.k.a. “smishing”) messages that spoofed UPS and other top brands. The missives addressed recipients by name, included details about recent orders, and warned that those orders wouldn’t be shipped unless the customer paid an added delivery fee. In a snail mail letter sent this month to Canadian customers, UPS Canada Ltd. said it is aware that some package recipients have received fraudulent text messages […]