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Recently, the Phone Number Abuse Hotline has seen a drastic increase in complaints about fake SMS that pretend the imminent delivery of a package.
“Ignore these text messages! Under no circumstances click on the link they contain!” warns Dr. Klaus M. Steinmaurer, RTR’s managing director for the Telecommunications and Postal Division, explaining, “The dubious package notifications usually contain a link as a lure, smuggling a malicious app onto cell phones.”
Since the beginning of September, 1,900 complaints have been registered with the number abuse hotline within a few days, with over 1,400 relating to ‘package fake SMS’. “At the end of May, we recorded the first peak regarding ‘packet fake SMS,’ but since then complaints about this have languished. Now we receive between 200 and 300 messages a day, from yesterday to today there were even 600,” informs Steinmaurer.
Aim of the scammers: to spy out data
If you click on the link sent with the SMS, you are asked to install the “Flubot” app. This reads out most or even all of the data stored on the cell phone. Under certain circumstances, bank data may also be spied out. Furthermore, the infected cell phone sends masses of SMS abroad and within the country in order to spread the link. This in turn can cause the cell phone bill to explode.
Once the app is installed, it is difficult to remove. Uninstall attempts often entail a crash of the app management.
Report fake SMS at rufnummernmissbrauch.at
Sender IDs of SMS and phone numbers that are misused can be reported at rufnummernmissbrauch.at. This allows us to quickly identify fraudulent activities that occur on a frequent basis and inform the public.
- source: vienna.at/picture:antennethüringen.de
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