The invention of mobile phones and the advancement of the telecommunication industry have made the life of human beings much easier and comfortable. However, there have always been a few evil people in every society that try to misuse technology and cause loss to the public during each era. Smishing is also an unethical and criminal activity to cause loss to the public.
What is Smishing?
The term smishing has emerged from SMS phishing, also termed as SMS fraud. SMS phishing works by sending fraudulent messages, links or prompts to the users and stealing their identity, account information or other details through this. The criminal activity is common in developed countries, where the scammers impersonate reputed organizations.
Types of Smishing:
The following are five commonly used types of smishing the users, as well as senders, need to be aware of:
- Account Suspensions
- Fake Competitions
- Government Messages
- Package Delivery Messages
- Apple iCloud ID Verification
Dig deeper into this article to explore everything you should know about smishing attacks.
Top 7 Tips to Be Aware of Smishing Attacks
Smishing attacks have been becoming more common in developed countries. They not only cause loss to the victims of such unethical activities but also hurt the reputation of the companies and business organizations that utilize SMS advertising service. Therefore, both the sender and receiver have to be careful that the message does not include any element that makes it suspicious of Smishing.
Here are the top tips you can follow to be aware of smishing attacks.
Specific Sender Identity
The very first tip to be aware of the smishing attack is to ensure the specific sender identity. Messages from suspicious sender identities are usually a scam. On the other hand, the organization using bulk SMS for marketing need to use a specific sender identity, so their users do not become the target of scammers. Most organizations acquire the service of companies offering SMS advertising in Dubai to ensure sending authentic messages through proper identity.
Poor Spelling or Grammatical Mistakes
One of the most common hints of suspicious messages is that they include spelling or grammar mistakes. So, if a business organization or some service provider is sending messages with such mistakes to the target audience, they will be declared as a scam. On the other hand, the users also need to be aware of the messages, including such mistakes and refrain from performing the actions asked of them.
Reward for Replying
Most of the Smishing attacks ask the users to reply to the message in order to receive the ‘too good to be true’ reward. The business organizations using SMS advertising often offer coupons, discounts and other such services through message, but that does not include the condition of reply. So, the users need to be aware of such practice, and authentic senders need to create reasonable offers.
Information about Threats and Risks
Another common tip of identifying and staying safe from the smishing attacks is that they share information about threats and risks. It can be related to your email, business account or any other matter. Business organizations usually do not send such messages. So, the message receivers should not click on the links shared through such messages.
Requesting Admin Status
Another crucial tip to be aware of the smishing attacks is to not follow the request of the admin status. The scammers usually send a message that some account of the user is getting hacking attempts. So, they need to give the admin status to the message sender to stay safe. The authentic users of SMS advertising do not offer such a service. The users should not follow or respond to such messages.
Inquiring Personal Information
Most business organization or service providers carry out their sales through SMS marketing. However, they do not ask for details of the bank account through messages. If a message sender is inquiring you about your personal information, you should not share it, as it is a scam and can rob you of all your savings.
Two Factor Authentication
Lastly, the most crucial tip to save yourself from the Smishing scams is to adopt two-factor authentication. It is equally applicable to the message senders like organizations using bulk SMS and their targeted receiver. Professional SMS marketing services ensure two-factor authentication with your users and send advertising messages through ethical practices.
Follow ethical practices and stay safe!
The scammers are also now quite well informed, which is making them successful in deceiving the users. Such a scenario increases the responsibility of the organization using SMS advertising to adopt advanced, safe, authentic and ethical practices to ensure the safety of their users. The organizations can rely on authentic advertising service providers to follow all the protocols of ethical messaging and target their audience successfully.