Continue reading »]]> 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.

Continue reading »]]> Article taken from IT and Related Security News Update from

BEWARE : New wave of SMS Phishing

Ankur and Pallavi with CRPCC Team

29 March 2009

Just yesterday, Sudha got an SMS on her mobile, stating

You have won GBP 500,000.00 in 2009 on going (o2TELECOMS)INT’L mobile draws in UK. To claim contact: Dr. Steve Mark on +447031844919 ormobile.draw@live.com

On reading the message, she was very happy and distributing sweets.

On asking the reason for distribution of sweets, she showed the above message.

I told her to keep away from this as this is pure SMS 419 (Advance Fee) and Phishing scam. It was explained to her and all of a sudden, she felt sad to loose the happiness of winning a lottery.

This is the new wave of Phishing and 419 (Advance fee) frauds, started by fraudsters in India.

Another person, Manish, responded with a e-mail and get a reply to furnish –

1.    A proof of your identity [copy of your driver's license or international passport]

2.    Proof of winning [the certificate of award issued to you by (o2tele)

3.    A fund Release Order [F.R.O] from the financial services authority.

He mailed again to the said sender. The sender sent him proof of winning and asked to contact a so-called lawyer to get FRO. On sending e-mail to the said lawyer, the said lawyer asked him to send Rs. 33,000. For the details of Manish Complaint, visithttp://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/o2-telecom-c177205.html.

“People should be beware of these SMS frauds and should not respond to these at all”, saidShashin Lotlikar, Chairman of Cyber Security firm ISAAC at Mumbai. Anjay Agarwal, CMD of AAA Consulting hold the same views and warned “The best way to deal these frauds is just delete the SMS message”.

“Nobody give you free money. Fraudsters devise newer methods to attract your attention by playing with human psychology and greed. People should just think straight – why any person is offering you the lottery money, when he does not know even your name and you have not purchased any ticket?”, said Rakesh Goyal, Director-General of CRPCC and MD of Sysman Computers, a Mumbai based IT Security Company. “+44-70xx are Personal numbering in theFind me anywhere range in UK. Charges for calls to these numbers are not distance-dependent. They can cost as much as INR 45 (GBP 0.50) per minute to call and can forward the call to virtually any phone number in the world. Forwarding numbers can be set up for free and completely anonymously via websites such as uknumbers.com. Thus, these numbers are used by 419 fraudsters, mostly based in Nigeria and nearby West-African countries, giving these countries a bad name. Further, why a genuine organization use e-mails like @live.comor @yahoo.com, or a similar e-mail provider”, said Rakesh Goyal