Government issues warning against unblockable phishing attacks on T-Mobile customers
A new text messages scam is targeting T-Mobile customers, reports BleepingComputer, and there is not much the carrier can do about it.
The New Jersey Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Cell (NJCCIC), which is a part of the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, has said that multiple customers filed reports after they were affected by a SMS (Short Message Service) phishing campaign.
What happens is that the target gets a message that includes a link to a gift as a gesture of thanks for paying the T-Mobile bill. The links could potentially lead to malicious websites that may install malware on your device or steal your account credentials or personal data.
The worst part is that these messages are unblockable as they are sent via group messages.
Although the NJCCIC believes this new phishing campaign was made possible because of earlier data breaches that affected T-Mobile, the carrier has refuted this and has said that it is trying to filter out texts that are believed to contain malicious links. The company has also requested customers to be on their guard and not respond to threads that contain unknown people.
As we detect new spam attacks from bad actors, we update our filters to block texts with known malicious links. We also encourage consumers to be cautious with engaging with unknown senders or unexpected messages. Don’t click on the links or reply to a group thread that contains people you do not know.
You can mute the text thread to stop getting alerts if anyone replies by following your phone manufacturer’s instructions. And while it won’t stop the replies, you can also delete the thread and messages. Customers can report spam by forwarding the message to 7726 (SPAM).
In 2018, data of 3 percent of T-Mobile customers was stolen by hackers, and the carrier has been affected by five more data breaches since then. Last year, Americans were scammed out of more than $5.8 billion, an increase of more than 70 percent compared to 2020. Be sure to be vigilant when you get messages from unknown numbers and never click links sent by strangers.
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Things that are NOT allowed: