SMS scam: How to recognize and report it?

How to recognize a spam?

Scam in packages, miraculous reimbursement of social security or tax authorities, invitation to download a false anti-Cavid application or to send money to a Friend blocked abroad to help him out: mobile phone users who do nothave not been the subject of a phishing attempt (phishing) are rare.

Malicious SMS encourage the recipient to open an attachment containing a harmful program, click on a link or install an application to take it in trap.

Previously the spelling mistakes could be enough to identify dubious shipments.But the spammers have made progress.Some common sense questions nevertheless make it possible to identify suspect SMS:

What is the pretext used to make the recipient react?In most cases, the scammers push the recipient to act immediately by sending him an urgent security alert or an offer to be seized without waiting.These are usually the precursor signs of a hacking attempt.You always have to take a step back, before reacting.

What is the origin of the message?The majority of hackers send their spam From mobile phone numbers starting with 06 or 07 (or +336 or +337) in order to blur their origin.A classic subterfuge is to pretend to be a renowned brand (telephone operator, for example) in order to put the vigilance of their victim to sleep.

What is the objective of the message?To extract money From their victims, the pirates invite them to fill in false forms and to inform their banking identifiers, which is obviously never to do.No financial institution, no merchant will ask its customers to reFresh data From a bank account or to confirm a bank card code by SMS.

Another technique is to encourage victims to compose a paying phone number.These numbers are easy to spot: they include 10 digits with an indicative beginner with 08 or a 4 -digit number starting with 3.Spam can also request the sending of an SMS to a surcharged number (these numbers start with a 5 -digit number starting with 6, 7 or 8).

Finally, they can invite the victim to click on a link the sharpener towards a paid service.To verify the lawfulness of a link without click on it, simply copy and paste the address of the Surun Site link like Virustotal or Urlscan.io.Suspicious links are reported.

Important: an SMS is never paying for those who receive it.The attack only becomes virulent if you bite the hook.To defend yourself, the best solution is to never open suspect messages and delete them upon receipt to make them inoperative.

How to report a scam by SMS?

To report a phishing attempt and avoid other less wise people to be ripped off, just connect to a government reporting platform like Pharos or transfer the SMS (without opening it) to number 33700 or on theSite 33700.Fr.