The number of smishing attacks in Romania increased more than six times in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to an analysis carried out by ING Bank and sendSMS. Most of the smishing frauds in Romania target the banking sector, the courier industry and telecommunications services.
The term “smishing” is a telescoping word to describe an SMS phishing attack. With the increase in smishing attempts, it is important that every Romanian knows how to protect himself from such frauds.
In the first months of this year, 75% of smishing cases attempted identity theft by using a custom tag (sender’s name) to mislead users that messages are sent by different companies.
Globally, 39% of consumers will experience at least one SMS scam attempt in 2023, according to a study by the Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF), a telecommunications industry trade association.
Smishing attacks are similar to phishing attacks, but use SMS messages to trick potential victims. In most cases, users have to click on a link and end up on a fake website, created specifically to steal confidential details (such as card or banking application login details). In other cases, users are asked to install malware on their mobile devices.
“In order to prevent and block fraud attempts, in addition to the internal actions and functionalities of Home’Bank, we constantly collaborate with the authorities and with different suppliers, such as the sendSMS company. Most frequently, clients are manipulated into willingly giving their card or user data, password and OTP (one time password) codes, after receiving alarming messages or promising them impressive earnings. sendSMS filters daily smishing attacks and alerts ING to block fraudulent messages before they are sent on behalf of the bank. We enjoy this collaboration, which helps us even more to be proactive and protect our customers’ data. We continue to innovate to prevent fraud, and this year we launched the geolocation solution, which can block transactions initiated from other geographic areas. The option can be activated very simply, from Home’Bank, the Security and login menu”, says Alin Becheanu, head of Fraud Monitoring and Prevention, ING Bank Romania.
According to sendSMS analyzes from the last three years, most smishing frauds in Romania target the banking sector (56%), the courier industry (25%) and telecommunications services (15%).
“sendSMS has developed a powerful anti-smishing system for automatically filtering malicious content and blocking it before it reaches the networks of telephone operators. In addition, as an additional security measure, certain operations are performed manually by cyber security experts. Last year, we identified more than 2,600 smishing attacks, of which we blocked 94%. In the first three months of the current year, 100% of smishing attempts were blocked. Part of our strategy includes paying more attention to suspicious web domains, tracking them in a wider network and analyzing potential links. We are also vigilant in monitoring online resources that facilitate the sending of SMS messages anonymously. A detailed analysis of the content, style and other peculiarities of smishing messages helps to continuously improve our filtering systems. Through these methods, we constantly adapt to anticipate and counter the evolution of the tactics used by attackers in the field of smishing. Thus, we make sure that we are proactive and are aware of the new patterns of attackers”, says Liviu Băltoi, cybersecurity consultant and founder, sendSMS.
Tips for preventing smishing fraud
- Attention to the sender of the message! Companies that use SMS communication and marketing use a sender ID, which means that the sender’s company name will appear instead of a phone number. This sender ID is verified and implemented following a procedure similar to the OSIM brand. “Compare incoming messages that appear to come from the same source before taking action. When something seems suspicious, contact the sender on a different communication channel!”, states the bank.
- Do not respond to urgent or threatening messages. Attackers try to create a sense of panic or pressure to distract you from the elements that would help you realize it’s a smishing attempt. Moreover, if the messages have grammatical mistakes, it is an indication that the text has been automatically translated and that it is a scam. Call the phone number on the back of the card or go to an ING Office to clarify any confusion.
- Never install programs on your phone or perform banking operations following text message requests. For example, the bank will never ask you to install a program to update your data. If you receive an SMS with a link to pay for a package online or for any other reason, do not follow through on this, because there are high chances that the fraudsters actually want to obtain the bank card data. Please note that financial and banking organizations will never send you messages that contain links to update or verify your login or personal data.
- Be careful about the web pages you are redirected to. Is the domain name correct? Does the site look suspicious? Do the texts on the website contain many mistakes or do they have robotic language? Enter the bank/company website directly from the browser, not by accessing the link in the SMS. Use a cyber security solution to protect your phone, tablet or laptop.
- If you accessed a malicious link, reset your phone to its original factory settings. If you’ve downloaded a malware app to your phone, don’t access the banking app before resetting your phone. Then reset the internet banking application password. Check for suspicious transactions and contact your bank to report the malware attack.
