How To Avert Scam SMS

 

       

• Understanding SMS Scam
• Common Types Of SMS Scam
• How People Become Vulnerable
• Financial & Security Implications of SMS Scam
  
• How To Successfully Avoid SMS Scam
  

Understanding SMS Scam

How is SMS scam perpetrated?

It's not a new development, yet it continues to trend against unsuspecting persons.

Why is that so?

Can it be because of ignorance,  carelessness, overwhelm, or simply mistakes on our part?

More to the point, what indeed may we understand as essential factors which cause innocent guys to fall prey to  sms scams?

These and more are the challenges we are going to focus on, in this edition of De-Scamming The Scam: Resisting Fraud And   Emotional Spending.

1. What Is SMS Scam?

First things first: what exactly is an SMS?

SMS is an acronym for "Short Message Service". 

It is a text messaging service for sending short messages and typically has limitation of up to 160 characters.

It refers to communications taking place across different mobile devices, that are being exchanged from contact-to-contact.

Specifically, such messaging  is usually text-based, short, and features delivery reports, which are designed to  confirm whether they have been successfully delivered or not.

SMS is used for several purposes, such as:

1. Personal Communication between friends, family, or colleagues, such as : 

• greetings

• reminders

• updates.

2. Business communication for transactional purposes, like sending : 

• notifications, 

• alerts

• promotional messages

3.  Two-factor authentication Protocol 

as a second factor in authentication processes, to send verification codes to users or account-holders.

What Does "SMS Scam" mean?

Now that we understand the base, let's now hit the nail of SMS scam on its Medusa head - complex, nuanced, treacherous, multiple -tactics, ever-threatening as it is.

SMS Scam simply refers to fake and fraudulent SMS messages.

They are often designed to disguise their real places of origin or sources.

For example, they would contrive to appear as being from trusted sources, particularly:

• government agencies or offices that you know
• businesses you deal with
• family members, 
• close friends. 

The aim is always to catch you napping and squeeze something valuable out of you.

That's why they regularly sing notes of urgency,  targeting to compel you to act quickly and without rational thinking.

Oftentimes, they  may  contain links they tell you to click, which takes you to a scam website.

They can steal any personal information which you happen to enter on that site, and use it to steal your money or commit fraud in your name. 

Have you received such messages before, or even lately?

They are mostly sent to your phone to deceive or trick you into sharing your personal information, money, or to unknowingly grant access to your accounts. 

Common Types of SMS Scam

1.  Bank Fraud Scams:

These do fly around a lot.

You could be sitting in front of your tv set enjoying a nice movie and hear the bleep or chime of an incoming sms,

You pick it up.

Like a slap in the face, a (fake) message informs you that you are:

• owing government some taxes or fines

• have outstanding financial obligations  yet to be completed at your bank or financial institution

• that your account will be frozen unless you make some payments.

2. Prize or Lottery Scams:

It could instead be informing and congratulating you for winning a prize (which you never contested for). It tells you all you need to do to redeem your win is  to pay a "small".

3.  Phishing Links:

As I earlier mentioned, the SMS  may contain links which look real but actually land you on  fake websites where your personal information can be extracted or stolen. 

4.  Fake Job Offers:

Yeah, you see a lot of that.

If you are a fresh graduate looking for white-collar job, you might be an easy target for job offer SMS scams.

Their stock-in-trade includes 

• promises of jobs which requires upfront payments or personal information to automatically become yours. 

5.  Tech Support Scams:

These are messages which pretend to emanate from tech companies.

They may warn you that your device has been infected or has some security issues, and that you need to install their app to resolve it. 

It's actually a malware they want to use to grant themselves remote access to your device - and through that siphon your personal and financial data to defraud or impersonate you.

6. Romance Scams:

Have you also at any time received romantic messages from somebody claiming to be  accepting your request for friendship? 

They may direct you to visit their curated links,  ask for financial assistance or your  personal details ostensibly to enable them familiarize with you.

How Someone Can Become Vulnerable to SMS Scams

1. By Sharing Personal Data:

This is the most common lapse by which people inadvertently grant access to scammers.

It happens anytime you give out your personal details when asked by persons who by right, association, or legitimacy have no need to know.

2.  Clicking On Suspicious Links:

Whenever you obey SMS directive from an unknown person or source and click on any uncertain or suspicious links, you may land on a fake or compromised website giving away confidential information about yourself.

3.  Attending To SMS With  Numbers:

You can fall into a trap and give away something personal by responding to messages from strangers.

4. Ignoring Warning Signs:

Rmember what we said about Warning Signs in our maiden article on this blog? 

Failure to be careful, or refraining from exercising caution, may make you overlook or miss the warning signs that a message may be fake or indeed is.

Sometimes that warning may even via your fifth sense, intuition or instinct actively at work screaming notes of "beware", which unfortunately we sometimes ignore.

5.  Public Wi-Fi: 

It's a fact that public Wi-Fi is an unsafe and unsecure network for confidential transactions or messaging.

In spite of this, most people don't think twice  before conducting their personal business and confidential communications (messaging) on it. 

As such they could open windows for scammers to scoop snippets or bits of their personal information.

6.  Not Keeping Software Updated:

If your phone or device is outdated or rather not updated, chances are that scammers will find it very easy to hack into their memory.

7.  Being Too Trusting

Some of us can be unnecessarily trusting of messages we have not verified.

By believing and responding to them without checking to know whether they are authentic or not, we may make ourselves vulnerable to SMS scams. 

8.  Sharing Verification Codes:

Careless handling of codes sent to you via SMS can also put you at risk.

It can give scammers access to your private information.

9.  Failure To Report Scams:

If you fail to report scam attempts or attacks to your service provider or relevant anti-fraud authorities, it only encourages perpetration of the negative activity.

Trust me, you will also remain an attractive target for scammers.

10. Paying Money To An Unknown:

Emotional triggers can sometimes cause somebody to react hastily, without thinking of  the consequences.

Imagine going into a panic over threats of account closure and making payment to the unknown and unverified source.

It happens.

Financial & Security Implications of SMS Scam

1. Loss of Money:

Through dubious SMS, scammers can cajole you into paying or transferring funds to them.

2.  Identity Theft: 

Your confidential and personal information details stand the risk of being stolen and could be used to open duplicate accounts or to commit fraud.

3.  Access to Bank Accounts:

When you act on unverified messages, scammers may successfully extract enough personal data or information  to log into your banking app.

Even more serious, this could enable them to gain access to other accounts that are linked to your phone or email and commit fraud.

4.  Breach Of Privacy: 

Remember the saying that "Loose lips sink ships" ?

No offence meant please, but fact is fact:  indulging in  careless talk or sharing sensitive information to unauthorized people can have serious consequences.

For example, scammers may put your identity and security at risk by sharing or selling  your personal details.

5.  Legal Problems: 

In like manner, just as earlier imokied, leaked personal information can be used for illegal purposes.

If this happens, there's much likelihood that you might suffer  legal consequences, including leading to your arrest or prosecution.

6. Emotional Disturbance:

If course, there's no gainsaying the truth that falling for scams do represent a terrible blow to anyone who suffers it.

Indeed, being a victim of financial loss is likely yo  subject you to suffer profound anxiety, stress, and loss of trust for others.

7.  Finally, it's pertinent 

to observe that rampant scam activities may also  negatively affect one's public image and reputation.

This could result if scammers constantly manipulate and use your stolen identity for public transactions. 

How to Successfully Avoid SMS Scam

1.  Don't ever trust messages

 from unverified and untrusted persons or sources.

2.  Never open or click on

 suspicious links from strangers and don't download attachments to your device or system unless you are sure they come from genuine or authentic sources.

3.  Absolutely refrain from sharing personal data 

or information with unverified and untrusted third parties.

Protect your passwords, PINs, and bank details, etc, and don't give them away via SMS.

4. Authenticate every message

 you receive from people you don't know or remember.

Call the company or institution they claim to represent directly using their official contact info or customer line.

5. Familiarize Yourself With Device Security Features:

Meticulously explore  your phone's SMS and Calls Settings to discover what security features it contains.

Invest time and patience to understand their functions and how to effectively apply them.

6. Check With Your Service or Device  Provider: 

Communicate officially with your mobile network provider to inquire about their anti-scam solutions and other security options they offer.

7.  Apply Anti-malware Solution:

You should not shy away from investing  a little to secure your privacy and funds. 

It's indeed a wise move to consider installing   anti-malware software from reputable and trusted sources in order to add an extra layer of protection.

8.  Report Scam Messages:

As a matter of personal safety, you should immediately report suspicious or fake messages to your phone provider or relevant government anti corruption authorities and agencies  about scam messages.

9.  Block Unknown Senders:

Furthermore, once you suspect that a particular messaging source or numbers are untrusted or unknown to you,  don't hesitate to block them. 

10.  Precaution Is Better Than Cure:

It's better to err on the side of caution than to jump in and regret later.

If you can't figure out who's sending that message, then ignore it. 

Don't respond to it.

11.  On a final note, awareness is always a crucial aspect of self-protection  

Therefore you should ensure that you learn and stay informed about common scams.

This will assist you to quickly  recognize signs on time.

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