As overall awareness of robocalls continues to grow, less people are answering calls from unknown numbers. Although this is a step in the right direction, scammers unfortunately evolve with the times. Knowing that people are more likely to engage via texts than phone calls, there has been a larger emphasis placed on SMS scams this past year, with numbers jumping from 1 billion in July of 2021 to a staggering 12 billion in July of 2022. According to Mavenir and the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), between 5% and 20% of all SMS messages are spam or fraud related.¹ With SMS read rates as high as 98%,² text messages are a highly effective and lucrative tool for fraudsters.

In response to these exponentially growing numbers, the FCC is calling for regulations that would force wireless carriers to block illegal texts. However, these measures have not yet gone into effect. This article will break down various SMS scams to help our readers stay informed and vigilant while we wait for our government to take further action.

SMS Scams: Smishing

Like phishing, but for SMS, smishing refers to messages that pretend to be sent from either a personal or business contact, prompting the recipient to click a fraudulent URL link, which will result in their personal details being tracked. Both the content and the alleged sender of the message can vary widely, but there is always one common trait: The messages will attempt to sound legitimate by mentioning some type of urgent action that is required on the recipient's part, which will result in the recipient getting scammed.

Common Examples of Smishing

1. Delivery scams: Text messages that say they are from a common delivery service like FedEx or Amazon, claiming that there is some issue with the recipient's delivery order. Delivery scams are especially prevalent during the holidays when online shopping ramps up.

2. Banking scams: Text messages that say they are from the recipient's bank or other financial institution, such as PayPal, claiming that there is some issue with their account.

3. Personal contacts: Text messages that claim to be sent from a personal contact of the recipient, or in some cases, even a friend of a friend. These are often sent with a fake local number using Caller-ID Spoofing to trick the recipient.

4. Rewards and Promotions: Text messages that tempt the recipient to click a link by claiming they have won some kind of reward or promotion.

Some Quick SMS Stats

• Over 400 million spam texts are sent daily
• 2.8 billion spam texts are sent weekly
• 596 million spam texts are sent on the weekends
• 278 million texts are sent per minute
• Approximately 44 spam texts are sent per person each day.

Tips to Avoid SMS Scams

• Enter any suspicious number into Whois by Sipstack to assess its Risk Rating Score.
• Never click on a URL received in a text unless you have verified where it came from. Legitimate companies are highly unlikely to contact you via text when there is a real problem.
• Ignore texts that tempt you to take some type of urgent action. When in doubt, contact the alleged company directly.
• Never call the number given in the text.
• Block the sender's number.
• Register to your national Do Not Call Registry.

How SIPSTACK Fights Fraud

Using the latest technology and machine learning, SIPSTACK's systems authenticate all activity in real time against variables that affect your security. When a carrier implements SIPSTACK's Risk Rating Score, they are able to customize a threshold for calls to pass through, based on their specific needs. At SIPSTACK we take an active role in ensuring we are building a secure and connected tomorrow. Contact us today to learn how you can protect yourself from spam.

References

^{1 https://www.mavenir.com/portfolio/advanced-services-applications/fraud-security/spamshield-messaging-fraud/ 2 https://techjury.net/blog/sms-marketing-statistics/}