Email phishing is one of the widespread social attacks on unsuspecting customers in which cyber criminals pose as reputed organisations or individuals you trust. Under this scam, the criminals plan to cheat and force you into divulging vulnerable details, such as your social security details, credit card details, passwords or other crucial information. SMS phishing or Smishing scams trick customers using the same strategy but using shorter content. As lesser text means little room for error, the process makes it more difficult for individuals to realise that they are dealing with a scammer. In addition, a person is more inclined to trust SMS messages than other social media scams. A person won’t give their details to someone DMing on their account. However, smishing tends to be more foolproof as no one expects scams on text messages.

This method features cyber attackers posing as reputed and legal companies like UPS, PayPal or any other large financial institution. This method doesn’t raise much suspicion since the customer probably has entered their phone credentials in the relevant account details. These criminals catch your attention using an alarmist tone, such as “your latest payment didn’t go through or transaction failed” or “your account has been hacked”. Additionally, you will be asked to take immediate action via a link in the content. Clicking on the link displays a dummy page, and the criminals record your every financial detail from this page. Once the person accesses your information, they can do much damage, from stealing your money to outright stealing your identity. Therefore, we have provided some tips to curb this menace which you can discuss with an agency by typing IT services near me.

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Do Not Click on the SMS Link

Cybercriminals try their best to click on the bogus links they send. They force you not to think about it logically by urging you to take immediate action using a language that sounds alarming. They use content like “your latest payment was declined”, “your account has been hacked”, or “your card has been suspended”. Since you can’t hover over a scammy link in an SMS text, it is tougher to recognise it. Therefore, do not click on the link even if you want to. You can check the credibility of the URL by manually entering it into a web URL checker, like virustotal.com and urlvoid.com.

Do Not Reply or Call on the Number

The scammers always use random numbers to send the fraud messages, and they have no idea whether the number on which they are sending messages is in use or not. When users receive such a message, they might want to contact the number to check whether it is genuine or fake. However, it is the worst idea since doing so will assure the cyber criminals that the number is valid and in use. When individuals try contacting such numbers, they allow the scammers to send them more messages and maybe call them with the same information. Therefore, it will be better not to contact the number again and take further help from an agency providing IT consulting in Sydney.

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Do Not Provide Sensitive Details to Unverified or Unknown Contacts

The phishing attacks mentioned in this blog can ask for your sensitive personal and financial details through SMS. Whoever has provided their information like this may note that this act is equivalent to putting your cash-filled wallet in the open among a large crowd. One of the standard methods used by these con artists is to pose as your bank branch and ask you to reveal your details. You should be suspicious in this scenario since a bank can’t ask for bank or confidential information via messages and calls. The genuine establishments and corporations never ask you for any classified detail over an unsecured medium and instead ask you to visit their office.

Another type of fraud prevalent via SMS is criminals sending you an alert about your social media account or other services. You mustn’t believe them since it’s more straightforward for these channels to notify you if something’s wrong with your account by employing their secure proprietary apps. That’s why you shouldn’t provide details to unknown or unverified contacts. For more information, contact Coweso – the leading company providing managed IT services in Sydney.

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Verify Whether the Message is Genuine or Not

Suppose you are the recipient of a message whose sender claims to represent your bank or any financial institution. In that case, you must dig deep and investigate the authenticity of the SMS. The investigation should consist of the following points:

• Check whether the number belongs to the organisation.
• Verify whether the person messaging you claiming from the company is its representative.
• Check whether the said issue exists or it is a scam.

You could use different means to reach out to them, such as going through the organisation’s official web page for contact information or mobile numbers. You could then verify whether the SMS text is genuine or not by reaching out to that number. You can also check out the authenticity of the text message with the help of an IT service provider in Sydney by getting in touch through social media channels. However, ensure not to give any personal details through the social mediums.

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Block the Number from Which you Received the Text

Let’s say you’re sure that the suspicious SMS you received is a smishing attempt. In such a situation, it will be better for you to block the number to ensure no communication with the contact, even by accident. Most established and reputed mobile manufacturers, such as Samsung, Motorola and Apple, let you manually integrate a mobile number into the ‘blocked’ list. You can reach out to your phone carrier for any help, and their representative will assist you in blocking any dubious callers. This is the best solution if a fraudster also tries to contact your family members or business. If you frequently change your number, request your phone carrier to block the particular number for you. Otherwise, you’ll have to do it yourself every time manually.

Remove all the Doubtful & Dubious Texts

Many people never remove any media files or old messages from their mobiles. The practice mentioned above is considered normal but only until you encounter a smishing message in your gadget. The message could be potentially dangerous for your personal and financial health as you could accidentally open a spammy link or click on the contact, resulting in dialling the number. As discussed earlier, such activities on your part would encourage cyber criminals to send you more phishing messages and bombard you with calls. Therefore, immediately delete such messages the moment you receive them. If you want to report such texts or campaigns, it is still advisable not to put the news in your inbox and instead take the screenshots for further action. For more clarity, you can find a leading technology company in your vicinity by typing IT support companies near me.

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