Hijacking cell phones & sending mass fraud SMS messages from a moving car: SMS Blaster is in town. 🚙📨📱💸😵💫
A new and highly effective attack on mobile devices is hitting western cities: “SMS Blaster” is the name for a category of devices that fraudsters use to distribute thousands of SMS messages directly to the phones of people nearby. The device is usually mounted on vehicles driving through crowded urban areas.
The tech behind this attack: an SMS blaster tricks nearby phones into connecting by presenting a stronger signal, often downgrading connections from 4G to 2G, where security protections are weaker.
Once connected, attackers can send mass SMS messages directly to nearby phones without knowing phone numbers and without going through mobile operators, bypassing traditional spam and filtering systems. The messages look very real, appearing to come from financial institutions, police, local authorities, marketplaces, and more.
Be aware, because attackers usually move fast. Please share this with your colleagues and friends - it’s important. Stay safe!
More details:
Combatting Cybercrime against Mobile Devices [Report]: https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/insights-papers/combatting-cybercrime-against-mobile-devices
Police warn of SMS scams [Post]: https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/news-and-insight/press-release/police-warn-sms-scams-following-prison-sentence-criminal-who
