“Smishing” – an insidious type of social engineering scam that exploits text (or SMS) messages – is becoming a big business opportunity for scammers. An FBI report shows that more than 320,000 Americans were targeted by these schemes in 2021, resulting in $44 billion in losses.
Unfortunately, these attacks have only become more frequent over time. Data from a recent TrueCaller report shows that consumers face an average of 19.5 spam texts per month, a rate that has more than doubled over the last three years.
Smishing scams often begin with a text message that includes a fake survey, a notification that a person has won something, or an “urgent” message about a bank account or credit card. Those texts invite a consumer to click a link, call a phone number, or contact an email address that the attacker provides. Once the victim does that, the race is on. Victims are usually asked to share things like login credentials, account numbers, and other sensitive personal information.
The scam is used by cyber thieves worldwide. Back in 2017, smishers in the U.K. pretended to be associated with a local bank and stole more than $80,000 in inheritance money from a pregnant woman’s account.
Smishers target companies and employees
Businesses and their employees have become increasingly targeted by these schemes. More than 70% of IT professionals in a recent study reported that their organizations were targeted by a smishing scam…
