"Two Arrested in UK for Smishing Campaign Powered by Homemade SMS Blaster"

Authorities in the UK recently made two arrests in an investigation into a large smishing campaign relying on an illegal phone mast.  The suspects were located in Manchester and London and allegedly used a homemade mobile antenna to send thousands of phishing SMS messages to unsuspecting individuals.  The police noted that the messages were crafted to mimic those of banks and other official organizations, and the illegal SMS blaster allowed the perpetrators to bypass the protections put in place by mobile phone networks to block suspicious text messages.  The illegal SMS blaster identified by the UK authorities was used in a smishing scheme designed to perpetrate fraud, and one of the suspects, Huayong Xu, 32, remains in custody, while the other was released on bail.  Police advise consumers in the UK to report suspicious text messages by forwarding them for free to 7726, which allows mobile network providers to investigate and block or ban the sender if deemed necessary.

 

SecurityWeek reports: "Two Arrested in UK for Smishing Campaign Powered by Homemade SMS Blaster"

Submitted by Adam Ekwall on