Most malicious campaigns use a scatter-gun approach, targeting thousands of phone numbers sequentially (such as by starting with “0400 000 000” and working up), randomly (with the aim of seeming less predicatable), or using stolen lists of valid numbers.Īnd while most mobile devices do have options to block or filter numbers, such as by SMS filtering services or by categorising unknown numbers - much like email scam/spam filters these approaches are only as reliable as data collected from user reports. The ACCC’s ScamWatch received 13,191 “online shopping scam” reports this year as of last month - with 35.6% of the reports claiming financial loss. The COVID pandemic has forced people to work from home, take temporary leave, or get laid off altogether - prompting a surge in online shopping and more internet use overall. Scammers often leverage real scenarios to mislead people. The flubot malware was previously associated with the Cabassous cybercrime group in 2020, but seems to have seen a resurgence in 2021 despite multiple arrests in Spain. This video shows the flubot overlay on an online banking app. Compared with email scams, it was only relatively recently that SMS scams became a problem leading to direct and highly visible financial consequences. Perhaps this is because of the extent of impact on consumers. While telecommunication providers are enhancing their SMS scam (and spam) detection capabilities, this issue so far hasn’t received the same attention as email scam. When it comes to SMS messages, however, our smartphones don’t afford the same level of protection. But most email services now provide efficient spam filters to block them. Why are there so many text scams all of a sudden?Įmail remains the cheapest method to distribute scams. The US Federal Trade Commission reported US$86m in losses to SMS scams last year, and the UK’s Office of Communications reported a significant rise in scam messages received by UK residents. SMS scam statistics drawn from ACCC ScamWatch data () - 2021 data up to August.