What Is Smishing?

Smishing is a type of attack that uses SMS text messages to deceive victims into giving up sensitive information or installing malware on their devices. The goal of a smishing attack is to lure out confidential information, such as bank accounts or card credentials.

Smishing scams are more complex to detect than phishing because SMS offers fewer signs by which you can recognize fraud. Unlike emails, for example, there is no sender’s address, message formatting, or embedded links that would typically indicate a phishing attempt.

How Does Smishing Work?

  1. The attacker will typically send an SMS message to the victim, claiming to be from a legitimate company or service provider, such as a bank or other financial institution.
  2. Smishing usually encourages the recipient to click on the link provided in the message to get more information or solve some problem, such as a blocked bank card or suspicious payment verification.
  3. After clicking the link, a victim is directed to a malicious website mimicking the legitimate one and asked to type in their personal information. Alternatively, the click may trigger the malware to download and install on the victim’s device.
  4. Such malware may encourage the victim to share personal information or discreetly steal from the device.

What Types of Smishing Attacks Exist?

Scammers are constantly inventing new techniques and tricks to deceive victims, making it challenging to define a specific set of smishing types. However, understanding the more widespread types can help you focus your defense strategies.

  • Scareware. One of the common types of smishing attacks involves sending messages that appear to be from an official source (such as a government agency) and threatening the user with legal action if they do not follow instructions in the message.
  • Impersonation Smishing. This is a phishing attack where attackers impersonate a trusted person, such as a victim’s friend or family member, to ask for a loan or emergency money.
  • Order Confirmation Smishing. The scammer sends a text message asking the recipient to confirm their order details. The message typically contains a link that directs the user to a malicious website, where they are prompted to provide personal information, such as credit card numbers or passwords.
  • Customer Support Smishing. Scammers use text messages to impersonate a customer service representative to gain access to confidential information. They may claim that there’s an issue with a victim’s account in some service and ask for personal details, such as passwords or bank account numbers, or even direct victims to malicious websites.
  • Account Verification Scams. Victims will usually receive fraudulent messages claiming that their account has been compromised and requires immediate verification. These messages typically contain links to a fake login website, where victims unknowingly enter their credentials, which the scammers then collect.
  • Prize or Lottery Scams. Attackers send congratulatory messages claiming the victims have won a prize or lottery. To claim the ‘winnings’ they would have to provide personal information or click fake links, ultimately leading to data theft or financial fraud.
  • Tax Scams. These scams typically peak during tax season. Scammers will send out messages claiming that there are issues with the victim’s tax returns, tricking them into providing sensitive personal information.
  • Service Cancellation Scams. These types of attacks typically involve messages claiming that a subscription or service the victim uses will be suspended or cancelled. The urgent messaging will lead them to a malicious website that will collect any information entered.

Indicators of Smishing Attempts

Detecting smishing is far more difficult than detecting phishing. However, there are specific signs that fraudsters may have sent the SMS message you received.

Unsolicited Text Messages From Unknown Numbers or Sources

Big companies and services rarely use regular phone numbers. On average, a phone only displays the brand name in the sender field. In general, any SMS message you don’t expect to receive may potentially be smishing.

The message from a service you’ve never interacted with or an unknown number should be double-checked or ignored.

Request to Share Personal Information

Passwords, account numbers, social security numbers, verification codes, or other sensitive information are never requested by legitimate services via SMS. Any appeal to share such data may be a smishing attempt.

Suspicious Links

This is the hardest thing to spot because the SMS uses shortened links. In most cases, links in messages sent by companies contain the brand name, though there are exceptions too. However, any inconsistencies or misspellings in URLs should be considered suspicious.

Sense of Urgency

Messages containing urgent requests for action that require immediate response, such as claiming you need to verify your account information due to suspicious activity on your account, may be another indicator of smishing. Scammers try to provoke emotions or panic to prevent a victim from acting rationally.

Easy Money Offerings

Messages that claim you’ve won a prize or contest may be a smishing attempt. If such messages request personal information to claim the winnings, it’s definitely smishing.

Real World Examples of Smishing Campaigns

Smishing attacks typically exploit your everyday digital touch points, be it online shopping, banking services, or government platforms.

Banking Security Alerts

Criminals frequently impersonate major financial institutions by sending messages claiming suspicious account activity or security breaches. These texts direct victims to fake banking websites that capture login credentials and financial information.

The messages often create urgency by stating accounts will be frozen or closed without immediate action.

Case in point: How victims lost S$8.5 million to smishing scams impersonating OCBC Bank. In a news release, 469 victims fell prey to messages alleging that their accounts were suspended and needed to be reactivated via a false link.

Government Assistance Fraud

During emergencies or significant events, scammers exploit government programs by claiming recipients need to verify information for benefits or stimulus payments.

These messages appear to come from official sources and direct victims to fraudulent government website replicas designed to steal personal and financial data.

Package Delivery Scams

With online shopping on the rise, delivery-themed smishing attacks have become particularly effective. Criminals send fake shipping notifications claiming delivery failures, customs fees, or address verification requirements.

Victims who respond find themselves on counterfeit carrier websites that either harvest payment information or install malware on their devices.

Giveaway and Sweepstakes Fraud

These attacks congratulate victims on winning competitions they never entered, offering substantial rewards in exchange for processing fees or personal information. The messages create excitement and urgency while requiring immediate action to claim supposed prizes.

Difference Between Smishing and Phishing

Both types of attacks aim to steal sensitive information; however, their methods of delivery have distinct threat profiles that warrant different defensive strategies.

Aspect Phishing Smishing
Definition Online fraud is aimed at stealing sensitive information or spreading malware. A form of phishing conducted via SMS or messaging apps.
Delivery Channels Emails, websites, social media platforms. SMS messages, WhatsApp, Telegram, and other messaging apps.
Security Level Email systems often have advanced spam filters and security measures. SMS is less secure; spam filters are less effective and accurate.
User Trust Users are generally more cautious with emails. Users tend to trust SMS messages more, increasing susceptibility.
Detection Difficulty Easier to detect due to visible signs like sender address and formatting. It is harder to detect; there are fewer indicators of fraud in SMS messages.
Potential Risk Risk varies depending on the phishing method and user awareness. Often considered more dangerous due to lower security and higher trust.

 

Smishing may be more dangerous than phishing. The main reason is that SMS as a channel is far less secure than email. Similarly, spam filters used by mobile operators are inferior to similar email technologies in flexibility and accuracy. Additionally, people are more likely to trust text messages than emails, making them more susceptible to smishing attacks.

How to Stop Smishing Attacks?

The best strategy to defend against smishing attacks is two-pronged: implementing technical safeguards and general behavioral awareness. We explore each aspect of the two-pronged strategy below.

1. Protection on The Carrier Level

Contact your mobile provider to activate spam and fraud protection services that automatically block known malicious numbers and suspicious content patterns.

2. Use Built-in Security Features

Modern smartphones include robust spam detection capabilities. Enable these features in your messaging settings and keep your device software updated.

3. Verify, Verify, Verify

Before responding to any message requesting action or information, independently contact the supposed sender through official channels. Look up the organization’s legitimate contact information rather than using details provided in the suspicious message.

4. When in Doubt, Don’t Click

When you’re not sure about a link’s legitimacy, manually research the organization’s official website. Use browser bookmarks or type the URL directly.

5. Report Suspicious Messages

Forward potential smishing attempts to spam hotlines to help your carrier improve filtering systems. Report incidents to the Federal Trade Commission or authorities relevant to your geographic location..

6. Monitor Financial Accounts

Regular account monitoring helps detect unauthorized activity quickly, limiting potential damage from successful attacks. Learn more about how you can analyze and respond to these types of attacks with our phishing investigation guide.

Consequences of Falling for Smishing Attacks

Beyond immediate financial losses, cascading effects from these attacks can easily disrupt your life or business for extended periods.

1. Financial Impact

Direct financial losses are just the beginning. Victims often face unauthorized charges, drained accounts, fraudulent loan applications, and damaged credit scores that require extensive remediation efforts to resolve.

2. Stolen Identity

Criminals use stolen personal information to open new accounts, file fraudulent tax returns, or commit crimes in your name. Recovery from identity theft can involve multiple government agencies and take months or years to resolve fully.

3. Account Takeovers

Successful attacks often provide access to users’ email accounts, social media profiles, and other online services. Criminals usually use these compromised accounts to launch additional attacks against your contacts or gather more personal information for future crimes.

4. Privacy Violations

Your compromised data rarely stays with the original attackers. Information gets sold in underground markets or on the dark web. This leads to additional fraud attempts and privacy breaches that continue long after the initial attack.

5. Emotional Impact

Not just tangible losses, victims can experience significant stress, anxiety, and feelings of violation that can affect personal relationships and create lasting concerns about digital security.

How Group-IB Can Help Mitigate Smishing Risks

Smishing attacks are typically part of a larger scam strategy, combined with other types of phishing. Scammers will not only send fake SMS messages but also create phishing websites and mobile apps, distribute malware, and coordinate their complex web of criminal operations.

Leverage Group-IB’s Business Email Protection platform to monitor and analyze threats across all communication channels, including SMS-based attacks targeting your organization’s employees and customers.

Our Phishing and Scam Protection solution also provides real-time threat intelligence that identifies emerging smishing campaigns before they reach your users. This proactive portfolio includes domain monitoring, malicious link detection, and automated takedown services that disrupt criminal operations.

Get in touch with our experts today to learn how Group-IB’s solutions can protect your organization from smishing and other evolving mobile threats.