What is smishing, this SMS scam that has already tried to empty your account ?

© Unsplash/Marten Bjork

“Your package is stuck in customs. Click here to pay fees.” This seemingly innocuous message could well be the start of a financial nightmare. Welcome to the era of smishing, where your smartphone becomes the Trojan horse of all cybercriminals.

< h2>SMS and phishing

Smishing is a contraction of “SMS” and “phishing”, and it's the new favorite weapon of digital scammers. This scam technique doesn't just send you simple, short-term spam messages, but it also impersonates official organizations to play on your trust and better trap you.

Imagine the scene: you receive an urgent text message from your “bank” asking you to confirm an unusual transaction. The message seems authentic, and the number familiar. In a panic, you click on the link provided – and that's when the trap closes. In a few seconds, you find yourself on a fraudulent (but realistic-looking) site designed to suck up your personal and banking data.

Stuart Jones, a cybersecurity expert at Proofpoint, explains that victims are tricked into sharing sensitive information, clicking on malicious links, or downloading harmful software. The sophistication of these attacks is such that even the most experienced can fall for it, explain our colleagues at JDG.

Forward these fraudulent SMS to 33700

The Covid-19 pandemic has acted as an accelerator for this type of fraud and the explosion of online procedures has been seen as an opportunity for cybercriminals. The figures are alarming: according to the Mobile Ecosystem Forum, nearly 40% of consumers have experienced a smishing attempt in 2023. Even more worrying, Proofpoint reports a staggering 318% increase in attacks in a single year. On average, there are still 300,000 to 400,000 fraudulent SMS messages sent every day, despite the efforts of operators to block these scams.

The effectiveness of smishing is based on our special relationship with our smartphones: Click rates on links sent by SMS are up to eight times higher than those of emails, and thus offer scammers an ideal playground.

Faced with this growing threat, the authorities are trying to react. In France, thee 33700 allows you to report suspicious SMS: you just need to forward a fraudulent SMS to this number so that an investigation can be opened. However, the agility of fraudsters, who constantly change numbers and platforms, makes the task difficult for law enforcement. Influencer Micode has also made a video that shows the behind-the-scenes of these SMS scams.

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The best defense therefore remains vigilance: Be wary of urgent messages, always check the sender, and never click on a link from an unknown number. If in doubt, contact the organization concerned directly via its official channels. You can also ask your entourage for double confirmation and to be sure that the link in the SMS is reliable.

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