Watch Out For SMS Spoofing .:. Ph's Shorts 🩳

It wasn't that long ago when I created an "awareness" post about hacks and scammers, inspired by negative things where my HIVE friends were involved... Well, today is the time to share my personal experience with one of the "more" sophisticated scam attacks... Let's talk about SMS spoofing and my latest encounter with it...

First of all, let me pull out the description of SMS spoofing from the website https://powerdmarc.com/

SMS spoofing is a technique used to change the sender ID of a text message so that it appears to come from someone else (like a bank, business, or even a friend), not the actual sender.
In normal texting, the sender’s number (like a phone number or shortcode) is automatically attached by the mobile network. With SMS spoofing, a person or program sends the message through special software or gateways that let them manually set the sender’s name or number.

Why is this so dangerous, and why are people more vulnerable to these types of attacks than others?

In my example, I received the next SMS message at my phone number:

Translated into English, it says:

The withdrawal made at 12:43 has been held for security reasons. If it wasn't you, please contact us now: 919796600

As I had a HISTORY of SMS messages from that number, this message popped out at the end, as the newest one... Along with other SMS confirmation messages that I would receive from that number when I'm paying with my Crypto.com card! As I receive tons of SPAM emails from fake addresses, I ignore them, but this came from the SAME number as my previous confirmation messages...

Of course, despite all that, before calling the "offered number" I did some research (that's what YOU SHOULD DO too if you get in a similar position!)... First thing was to open my crypto.com app and see if there is something suspicious, as a similar message should pop up there too... After checking it, there was no notification... good sign...

On the second view, I saw that my balance is only $4!!! That was alarming! But, on the other side, maybe that was the reason why the thief couldn't take my money... You can't take what's not there! 🤣 After another look at the history of transactions, I realized that my insurance company took a payment for my car insurance a few days ago... Phew... That was the reason for the low balance... Btw. Those guys could also be called thieves, but that's another topic... 🤣

Back to the main story... After calming down, I researched a bit deeper... I went on the Crypto.com website and searched for their "official" numbers, and they specifically listed theirs, and underlined NOT to call any other numbers!!! The number from where SMS came WAS their, but it was "spoofed", while the other one (from the message itself) was a scammer's phone number!

And the last thing I did was to search the Internet for similar reviews and experiences... While you can be one of the first to be scammed when they change numbers, or the text message, usually you will find plenty of similar stories on the Internet...

All this happened maybe 2 weeks ago, and, curiously, I received an email from Kucoin about the same anti-phishing practice! It looks like these attacks are on the rise, so stay alert and never panic! Take your time and research everything BEFORE doing any actions...

Thank you for your time.

--ph--