Mobile phones, although a huge convenience, are susceptible to all kinds of fraud, including identity theft. Companies communicating with their customers via text messages can leave customers vulnerable to potential security threats, according to new findings.
The most common techniques used to defraud people on the Internet are phishing scams, an attempt to trick a person into revealing personal information such as credit card details or bank account information by sending an email with a fake web address or telephone number.
Another favourite of fraudsters is the ‘419 scams’, named after the section of the Nigerian penal code that addresses fraud schemes, where a person is persuaded to advance relatively small sums of money in return for larger financial gain.
But these days, phishing scams are increasingly targetting mobile phone users by using an SMS to initiate a communication. For example, text message phishing, occurs when customers receive a text message from a so-called financial institution asking them to call a telephone number due to a possible fraudulent transaction on their account.
They are then requested to divulge their PIN number, or other personal details, on the pretence of changing their PIN to secure their account. The fraudster however is now able to access the callers’ funds.
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