The problem of phishing is becoming a major problem on the mobile phones these days. So better be alert the next time you receive a message or a call from your mobile operator asking you to call a certain number to unsubscribe a certain service. There is a strong possibility of it being a phishing message.
The SMS phishing or simply SMiShing is similar to spam emails that take computer users to illegitimate website posing as an authentic one. SMS phishing too is designed to fool the mobile user into visiting a phished site by sending an SMS falsely appearing to be from a trustworthy entity.
Many people in India assume that when an SMS displays a particular name in the from field. It has to be from that person, what people dont know that for as little as INR 1000 you can have your own name in the from field and the SMS can be sent for as low as INR 0.08 per SMS.
There have been many cases when mobile owners have fallen in this SMS phishing trap that led to the leakage of crucial information like user names, passwords and credit card numbers. SMS phishing or SMiShing is designed to misguide a person into visiting a website, whereas vishing will instruct him / her to call a number such as the customer care number of a telecom service provider and so on. In reality such a call is routed to a hacker.
The increasing popularity and use of the mobile phone has resulted in the rise of crimes like SMiShing and voice phishing alongside. The previous year India ranked third as it witnessed about 9.39 per cent of the total phishing incidents reported globally.
