What Is Smishing and How to Avoid It
What is smishing? Officially added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary in April 2023, smishing is a relatively new term. It developed in conjunction with the advent of SMS text messaging technology. The word was created by combining “short message service” and “phishing”. Phishing was first used in the late 1990s by hackers who would “fish” for sensitive information in the “sea” of internet users by using fake emails or websites as bait to steal email accounts and passwords.
Therefore, smishing is the SMS text message version of phishing. It is such a successful scam for two main reasons: the proliferation of SMS text message communication and users’ false confidence in text message security.
Like any other scam, smishing attacks are typically attempts to get money, either yours or your company’s. When you “bring your own device” (BYOD) to work, or use your own device to work remotely, which has become quite common practice of late, that device provides a vulnerable connection to company data and sensitive information.
But how does it work? How can you recognize smishing attempts and avoid scams? And if you use SMS marketing campaigns, how can your customers and clients distinguish your valid messages from spam?
What Is Smishing and How Does It Work?
Phishing has become a well-known scam tactic. Most companies have begun to educate their employees about the risks of fraudulent and malicious emails because of the threats they pose to company data. And you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t fallen victim to a phishing scam at least once.
So for many people, unfamiliar and “fishy” emails are quickly ignored and deleted without a second thought. We’ve been trained on what to look for, and we know by now not to click on those emailed links! But why aren’t we as careful with text messages?
Why We Fall for Smishing Scams
Smishing works very similarly to phishing. Scammers use phony messages and malicious links to fool people into compromising their mobile phones, bank accounts, or personal or company data.
How are smishing victims so easily fooled? Well, for one thing, text messages are more informal and personal, so SMS click-through rates are 5-7 times higher than those of email. Basically, this means that in general people open and read more text messages than emails.
Secondly, it’s easier for scammers to elicit trust from an SMS text message than from an email. SMS literally stands for “short message service”. With less text, there are fewer opportunities for someone to recognize a mistake or become suspicious. Receiving a one-line email, on the other hand, is inherently suspicious. It is more challenging to create deceptive email copy than a brief SMS text message.
Smishers may use basic information about users from public online tools to fool them into thinking the message is from a trusted source. Using your name and location to address you directly makes these messages more compelling.
Phone numbers can also be spoofed. This means that smishing scammers can send messages from numbers that users are likely to recognize and trust.
Finally, it is more difficult to recognize malicious links from a mobile device than it is on a computer. With a smaller window, the full URL is not immediately visible, so users aren’t so quick to recognize a malicious destination. And users aren’t able to hover over a link to preview a link like they can with a mouse on a computer.
Why Scammers Use Smishing
There are billions of smartphones worldwide that can receive SMS text messages from virtually any number. This makes any one of those billions of smartphone users a target. Attackers create a deceptive text message that invokes a specific emotion or reaction (urgency, fear, curiosity, etc.) and typically includes a call to action, like clicking a link or calling a number.
When a user clicks the link or calls the number in the phony text message, he or she might be prompted to provide sensitive information to “validate identity” or “sign in” to an account. While the destination website or phone call might seem legitimate, it is a front curated to provide the user with a false sense of trust.
Scammers benefit from this by gaining access to personal and company accounts and data. Attackers can capitalize by using the information for various malicious purposes like identity theft, unauthorized transactions, selling the data on the black market, or further targeted attacks. Clicking certain links can also enable the download of malware and viruses that provide an attacker with access to data and information not voluntarily provided.
How to Recognize Smishing Scams
There are a few obvious signs of smishing. The first is that the message will come from a number you don’t recognize or don’t have saved in your contacts. The second is that the message will use social engineering tactics to create a sense of urgency, curiosity, or fear to manipulate you into taking hasty action. Finally, the message might include—you guessed it—a fraudulent link.
There are a few common categories of smishing scams to look out for:
Account Verification
This message might look like it’s from your bank or other service provider asking you to verify account details because unauthorized activity was detected. But when you click the link, you end up on a malicious replica of the official website.
Prize, Lottery, Delivery, or Other Freebie
Here you’ll be asked to provide personal details, pay a small fee, or click on a malicious link to redeem, download, or release a prize or product.
Tech or Customer Support
If you receive a message warning you about a problem with your device or account, you could end up being charged for calling the support number or unwittingly providing a “technician” with access to your device and data.
Government Agencies
Remember that attackers control the back end of any fraudulent links or phone numbers. So be wary before believing that your bank or the IRS wants you to contact them to verify any account activity or collect a refund.
Invoice or Order Confirmation
These messages will ask you to click a link or call a number to verify your account if you do not recognize the charges or purchases. But again, this is an attempt to get you to panic that your account has been compromised and hastily provide your credentials to fix a fake problem.
Service Cancellation
These messages will threaten service cancellation due to a payment issue. Wanting to retain the service without interruption, victims will hastily provide payment information.
And unfortunately, there are other scams where attackers will try to earn your trust in an attempt to garner money or other sensitive information. But knowing what some of these tactics look like can be your first defense.
How to Avoid Smishing Scams
Android and iOS operating systems have some built-in protections and functions, like blocking unapproved apps and filtering suspicious texts to a spam folder. It’s important to keep your device software updated to take advantage of the newest anti-phishing tools and technology.
Never click suspicious links or call unknown numbers. Verify information by contacting the organization or service provider directly from a legitimate number, email address, or website. You can also use a phone lookup service to check the origin of an unknown number.
Set up multi-factor authentication (MFA) whenever possible. This will require that you provide a texted code whenever logging into an account. So if someone is able to get your username and password, they won’t be able to verify with that code unless they also have your phone.
Don’t respond to smishing messages. This can give someone more opportunities to trick or manipulate you. Slow down and take the time to conduct some research if you receive a message that sounds urgent. Don’t make hasty decisions without verifying information first.
Stay updated and educated about smishing tactics and trends. In a corporate setting, provide security awareness training especially if employees conduct work from their personal devices.
How Do My Customers Know What Is Smishing and What Is Legitimate?
If you are a business owner who uses SMS text messaging for marketing campaigns and other important communication, there are a few things you can do to ensure delivery and maintain your customers’ trust.
Maintain a Positive Sending Reputation
The better your delivery rate is, the less likely it is that anti-phishing software will flag your messages as spam. So to improve your delivery rate, you need a high percentage of successful messages. This means that you must only send SMS text messages to valid, verified mobile numbers.
Too many unsuccessful or undelivered (bounced) messages can make you look like a smisher who is simply mass messaging without any rhyme or reason to increase their victim pool. This can get the sending account flagged as scam or spam. You can use phone verification tools to check the validity and line type of a number before sending messages to it.
Provide Opt-Out and Opt-In Instructions
Providing opt-out instructions is a good sign that you are legitimate. It’s the opposite of using pressure tactics. Consumers must consent to receiving SMS marketing messages, so providing opt-out instructions is a common SMS regulation requirement that can prove your legitimacy.
You can also meet this requirement by having users respond to your message by texting a keyword back to you like YES or CONTINUE. Until a user responds to the message with the word “continue,” no more messages should be sent to that number.
Consider Frequency and Keywords
Spam filters also consider the number of messages sent compared to the amount of time between messages. For example, if you send too many messages too fast, it could raise a red flag with spam filters. And avoid certain keywords in your messages that are commonly used by smishers like “free”, “guarantee”, “limited time”, etc. These can trigger spam filters, too.
Use a Short-Code
Finally, register for a short-code. These 5- or 6-digit codes are intended specifically for marketing purposes, so they are pre-approved and therefore not subject to spam filtering. Consequently, they automatically offer more credibility and reliability than a message sent from a 10-digit number or email address.
Now Do You Know What Is Smishing?
As technology advances, so do techniques and tactics to abuse it. We spend so much time on our phone that it’s the prime environment for smishers to attack—the odds are in their favor.
Hopefully now you know what is smishing and how to avoid it. You have probably seen these types of messages before and just never knew there was a specific word for it.
Fortunately, there are a number of tools individuals and businesses can use to verify phone data and confidently rely on SMS text messaging. Check out our bulk phone validator to verify a list of phone numbers or our phone verification API to get up-to-date phone data at the point of entry. Try our SMS text messaging service to send SMS messages to customers and clients without providing your personal number. All activity is logged and can be traced to prevent spamming—we hate spam as much as you do!
