Smishing is an increasingly dangerous form of attack. This article will provide you with complete information about what smishing is, how it works, its harmful effects and effective prevention measures.

What is smishing?

Smishing (SMS Phishing) is a form of fraud that uses SMS messages to trick users into providing sensitive personal or financial information. Fraudsters often impersonate reputable organizations such as banks, telecommunications companies, social networks, etc. to lure victims into performing actions such as clicking on malicious links, providing passwords or transfer money.

Common form of Smishing messages

Some common types of phishing text messages include:

• Messages impersonating banks or credit institutions: Fraudsters fake notices about unusual transactions, request to update account information or activate new services.
• Prize-winning messages: Notice of unexpected prizes, request to provide personal information or pay a fee to receive prizes.
• Promotional messages: Notify about attractive promotions, ask to click on a link to participate or provide information to receive incentives.

For example: “Your account is temporarily locked due to unusual activity. Please visit [fake link] to update your information and reactivate your account.”

Smishing via messaging apps

Fraudsters take advantage of popular messaging applications such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Zalo,… to reach and scam users. They can impersonate friends, relatives or employees of companies to commit fraud.

For example: “Hi, I’m [fake name] from bank X. Currently your account is having problems, please provide the OTP code for verification.”

How to Recognize a Smishing Attack

Some signs this is a scam smishing message:

• Urgent language, secret requests: Scammers often use urgent language to put pressure on victims, asking for confidential information such as passwords, OTP, PIN codes,…
• Request to click on a link or provide personal information: Smishing messages often contain malicious links leading to fake websites or requests to provide sensitive personal information such as ID/CCCD numbers, bank accounts , etc.

A typical example of Smishing is as follows: Hello, you just made a transaction of [amount] at [time] at [store]. If this transaction was not made by you, please visit [fake link] to confirm.”

The message uses urgent language (“transaction not done by you”) to put pressure on the victim. The message contains a malicious link (“[spoof link]”) leading to a fake bank website. Fraudsters try to deceive victims by providing fake transaction details.

Harmful Effects Of Smishing

Personal and financial risks

You may encounter some financial risks such as:

• Loss of money: Victims may have money stolen from their bank accounts or unwanted payments.
• Stolen personal information: Fraudsters can use stolen personal information to commit fraud, impersonate, or sell to third parties.
• Loss of identity: Victims can be impersonated to commit illegal acts or affect their personal reputation.

Negative impact on businesses

Businesses may experience some major impacts:

• Risk of loss of reputation: Businesses can lose credibility and reputation if customers are scammed through smishing messages impersonating their brand name.
• Property damage: Businesses may suffer property damage due to customer information theft or fraudulent transactions.
• Impact on business operations: Handling complaints and dealing with consequences caused by smishing can affect the business operations of the enterprise.

How to protect yourself from Smishing

To protect yourself from smishing, you need to take the following effective precautions:

Personal safety security

Don’t reply or click on links from numbers you don’t know. Be careful with SMS messages from unknown numbers, especially those containing urgent content, asking for personal information or clicking on links.
Check and verify information before acting. When receiving a suspected smishing SMS message, contact the organization mentioned in the message directly to verify the information before taking any action.

In addition, it is also possible to use message security software and security features on the phone. The purpose is to prevent smishing messages and protect personal information.

Use security tools

Users can use a number of security tools such as:

• Message security software: Install message security software such as Kaspersky SMS Shield, Lookout Security, Norton Mobile Security to filter spam and smishing messages.
• Phone security features: Use phone security features like blocking messages from unknown numbers, filtering spam messages, and two-factor authentication for added security

Awareness raising for users

• Organize information security courses: Businesses and organizations should organize information security courses to raise user awareness about smishing and other forms of cyber attacks.
• Provide educational materials: Provide educational materials for users on how to recognize and prevent smishing, including warning signs and protective measures.

See more: Trojan Virus and It Causes On Your System

Smishing is an increasingly dangerous form of attack. Raising awareness and applying effective prevention measures is extremely important to help protect yourself and your business from the risks caused by smishing. Always be alert and cautious when using your phone and internet to protect the safety of your personal and financial information.