What Is Smishing?
By now, almost everyone has encountered phishing scams that arrive via spam emails. For example, someone might claim to be from your bank and request you provide account information, social security numbers, or credit card details.
Smishing is just the SMS version of phishing scams. Instead of a scammy email, you get a scammy text message on your smartphone. “SMS” stands for “short message service” and is the technical term for the text messages you receive on your phone.
The new text message package delivery scam is a perfect example of smishing. People are receiving text messages claiming to be from FedEx with a tracking code and a link to “set delivery preferences.”
That’s just one example. An SMS phishing scheme could pretend to be from your bank and ask you to enter your social security number. Or, it could pretend to be from another legitimate organization and ask you to sideload potentially dangerous software on your phone. The possibilities are endless.
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Spam: Not Just For Email Anymore
Most people have caught on to spam emails by now, and email clients have excellent spam filters that catch a lot of junk emails before you see them. So it’s no surprise scammers have turned to other mediums.
You’ll encounter various types of scam phone calls like the Wangiri or “one ring” phone scam on both landline phones and cell phones. Phishing attacks are taking place on Facebook and other social media services, too.
SMS phishing is still something many people have never encountered. Scammers are counting on people being less skeptical than they would of an email and not looking too closely. We wouldn’t be surprised to see smishing become more and more common as scammers search for more people to trick.
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How to Protect Yourself From Smishing Scams
You should be on guard for scammy text messages, just as you should watch out for malicious emails. All the standard tips for dealing with phishing emails apply to smishing, too:
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How to Block SMS Spam
Both iPhones and Android phones let you automatically block spammy text messages. Just like with blocking spam phone calls, you’ll install an application that contains a blacklist of suspected spammers. When you receive a message from one of these suspected bad numbers, it will be automatically filtered out.
If you’re getting a lot of spam text messages, we highly recommend taking action and proactively blocking them with such an app. If you’re just getting a few spam messages, you can always manually block the number sending them on iPhone or Android. Just be careful and think before you divulge any sensitive information.
RELATED: How to Block Text Messages from a Certain Number on an iPhone
