5 tips to avoid smishing scams

With smishing attacks on the rise, being aware and wary will go a long way to staying safe

In a push for better cybersecurity in India, the government is cracking down on common cybercrimes, and has set up websites and helplines for victims to report cyber frauds and scams. A recent warning from the government is around ‘smishing’, a variant of phishing that targets victims via SMS.

Typical email-based phishing scams are often easy to spot as they are often poorly written with spelling errors, come from unusual-looking email addresses and contain inconsistent information.

Smishing, on the other hand, exploits our ingrained habit of swiftly responding to requests such as bank alerts, one-time Passwords (OTPs) and payment URLs, sent via text messages. It is also often difficult to determine if the number sending the message should be trusted. The messages often contain a call to action requiring immediate attention to avoid some sort of negative outcome such as a bank account being closed or a fine from the tax department for failing to file a tax return. In such cases, it’s only natural to panic and fall into a trap.

However, here are some easy steps to avoid falling victim to smishing:

Say no to clicks: Banks, telcos and government departments constantly warn us that they do not send links via SMS for verification or transaction, so do not click on any links on an unexpected SMS.

Do not act immediately: If a message tries to induce panic by saying, “You must act immediately”, analyze the legitimacy of such a message. It is also important to note that banks and other institutions make a point to ask customers to visit their physical branches or call verifiable numbers to address issues.

Protect sensitive information: Banks, telcos, customer service centers and other service providers implicitly inform their users that they do not ask for sensitive information like card details, OTPs, bank account numbers, PINs and more. Therefore, a message masquerading as coming from such a service is a definite trap and users should be mindful of not divulging any sensitive data.

Regularly update mobile devices: Smartphones today often have inbuilt security features to block suspicious activity. Therefore, ensure that your device is regularly updated.

Avoid responding to unknown messages: The majority of smishing scams originate from unknown numbers and are literally fishing for a response. Avoid responding to a message or calls from an unknown or suspicious number. No matter how tempting an offer from an unknown number might seem, remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

With smishing attacks on the rise, being aware and wary will go a long way to staying safe.