Phishing, the fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information (such as passwords and credit card numbers) is something that we have grown accustomed to. Today, the bad guys are getting more sophisticated. For example, they are using SMiShing [1] attacks. SMiShing (SMS phishing) is a type of phishing attack where mobile phone users receive text messages containing a Web site hyperlink, which, if clicked would download a Trojan horse to the mobile phone.

Bad guys are increasingly targeting people through their smartphones. They send texts that trick users into doing something against their own best interests. At the moment, there is a mystery shopping scam going on, starting out with a text invitation, asking users to send an email for more info which then gets people roped into the mystery shopping scam.

Always, when you get a text, remember to think before you tap, because more and more, texts are being used for identity theft, bank account take-overs and to pressure users into giving out personal or company confidential information. Here is a short video made by USA Today that shows how this works.

A user who was trained to spot phishing red flags would think twice before falling for these scams. The video links to a complimentary job aid that you can print out and pin to your wall.

[1] The term SMiShing was coined by David Rayhawk in a McAfee Avert Labs blog on August 25, 2006.

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