A WARNING has been issued over bogus texts used over the holiday season to hack phones and rob people of cash by pretending to include package tracking links.
Phone users are being told to be on alert for texts from “smishing” scams as attacks rise over the Christmas and New Year period.
Smishing (shortened from SMS phishing) is the most popular type of scam used by cyber thieves to steal your personal information.
The texts received will be very real looking and ask for you to extend your car warranty, for example.
Yet the links included will allow hackers access to your phone and all the personal information stored there.
Over Christmas, scammers have launched a holiday text scheme where they send fake links and claim they can be used to track packages.
The texts will be disguised as the US postal service or other common shipping companies.
Yet the deceptive text messages will give out your financial information to attackers if the links are clicked on.
“The link in the ‘smishing’ message might take you to a fake site where you’re asked to type sensitive personal information that the cybercriminals can use to steal your online ID,” Heinan Landa, CEO of Optimal Networks, explained to WUSA9.
“These messages tend to show up as urgent security alerts, or ‘you must act now’ language with coupons, redemptions, offers, deals, etc.
“These are usually warning signs of a hacking attempt.
“People are less…
