Although it is not a novelty, since we have seen it on other occasions, it does seem that lately it is reaching more potential victims. They use a bait to make believe that you really need to contact that number, but it really is a scam. What will happen is that they will steal your data.
fake sms
He messageSpecifically, it says the following: “Hello mom, we had an accident and my mobile phone broke. Write to this number on WhatsApp as soon as possible, please.” Logically, that SMS can reach someone who enters the profile, who has a son or daughter who is outside, who may have really had an accident, and they are going to be scared and contact that number they give.
What they are clearly looking for is start a conversation with the victim. First off, they will detect that there really is a physical person behind that number. They will already have that information simply by adding it to WhatsApp and talking to it. But from there, they could continue with their strategy of stealing information, money, sneaking malware…
What are they most likely to ask for? This type of fake SMS, as you can see in the message, look for the urgency. Seek that the victim does not have much time and wants to help. Therefore, they can ask you for money for anything, such as buying a new mobile phone, taking a taxi back home, etc. The mother of that alleged victim of an accident, worried, can access and send money through Bizum, transfer, etc.
But be careful, the strategy could also be to later send a link where, supposedly, there is something that that son or daughter wants to teach you. That link, once again, is a scam. What they are going to look for is for the victim to download a file that is actually a malwarego to a fraudulent page where you have to log in to the mail, social networks, enter the bank…
If you search the Internet for the number that appears in the screenshot, you will see that many people have received that SMS in the last few hours. It seems that there is a malicious campaign and it is reaching a lot of people, so you should be alert and also inform older relatives who may be scared to receive this type of message.
How to avoid being a victim of fake SMS
The most important, and at the same time the simplest, is completely ignore these messages. If you receive an SMS of this type saying that your son or daughter has had an accident, that their mobile phone has broken or anything else, ignore it because it is a scam. If you have any doubts, simply call your son or daughter’s real number and that’s it.
Furthermore, it is key protect privacy of your phone number. Avoid leaving it exposed on the Internet, for example in open forums, social networks, posting it on any page… Hackers can crawl the network looking for phones that they can use to launch attacks of this type.
To prevent any mistakes you may make, it is also key to have protected the device. Always install a good antivirus, as it will help you detect fake files and remove them before they can affect you. Likewise, having the system updated can solve vulnerabilities and prevent them from being exploited.
As you can see, receiving an SMS like the one we have shown is relatively common. What you should do is avoid making mistakes, such as simply adding that number to WhatsApp. Never give out personal information and properly protect the device so as not to fall into traps of this type. In case of problems, it is essential to know how to act if the mobile is hacked so that it does not go further.
