How to avoid phishing SMS scams

Situations where people receive suspicious text messages are becoming more and more frequent. These are so-called phishing SMS messages. These messages may impersonate a popular retailer or business to inspire confidence, get the recipient to click on a link and obtain personal information.

Can companies text consumers without their consent?

As part of SMS marketing, a business can only send text messages to consumers who have given their consent and signed up to receive text messages from that company. Here, we should note that for your SMS marketing to actually work, these consumers must have actually knowingly opted in to receive SMS. In other words, an organization is not legally allowed to send text messages unless they have permission from the end customer to do so.

However, there is a difference between an existing company sending unsolicited text messages to people who have not given consent and phishing scams. Although both are unsolicited messages, the former company sends the SMS message in the hope that the customer will buy a product or service from them. The second, however, attempts to steal users' personal information.

Examples of fraudulent SMS messages

Fake SMS messages usually have one goal, and that is to get the recipient to provide personal information to the sender. Fraudsters are very often looking for passwords, account numbers, credit card numbers, etc. This type of information helps to gain access to your emails, bank accounts, or credit card logins. They reset passwords on these accounts and take ownership of these accounts. Many fraudsters want access to personal information so they can resell it.

Text message phishing scams are becoming more sophisticated and sophisticated. Thus, the following examples illustrate a commonly used tactic where they promise something for free to get private information from you:

You won a free prize! Click here to claim it!

You have received a free gift card! Click here to use it!

You have won a free holiday! Time is running out to pick it up! Click here.

Some phishing text messages also try to alert consumers that something is wrong. Examples of these scam text messages include:

We've noticed suspicious activity in your account - click here to resolve it immediately.

There seems to be a problem with your credit card. Click here to re-enter your details.

Have you approved this invoice? Click this link to resolve it immediately.

Most phishing attacks try to influence consumers with their urgency. In most cases, the so-called "winning" SMS are only for the first winner who clicks. In contrast, SMS messages that inform about a problem with, for example, a customer account always ask for personal data.

Why not send fraudulent phishing messages?

Our GoSMS service refuses to support in any way the communication of fraudulent entities that send this type of message.

In the event that these attacks are reported, we are able to trace the specific sender in our system, block the account and forward all communications to the Police Department, which will initiate criminal proceedings.

We know how important it is to prevent the sending of these fraudulent SMS messages. GoSMS is committed to the security of both its customers and the contacts to whom bulk SMS are sent. Every new customer goes through an authentication process, so we work closely with all of our clients to ensure 100% security in our communications.