Chinese gangs earned over $1 billion from fraudulent SMS – US raises alarm
Kyiv • UNN
Criminal groups from China stole over $1 billion in three years through fraudulent SMS. The scheme operates through SIM farms, phishing sites, and a network of straw subscribers in the US.
Criminal groups from China have turned annoying scam SMS into a billion-dollar business, through which they have stolen over $1 billion in the last three years, American investigators report. This is stated in an article by The Wall Street Journal, writes UNN.
Details
Trap messages about allegedly unpaid fines, fees, or parcels lead victims to phishing sites where card data and one-time passwords are stolen – after which the stolen cards are added to digital wallets for purchases.
The scheme works through "SIM farms" (arrays of SIM cards and servers), phishing sites, and a network of dummy subscribers in the US, who are hired for a few cents per purchased gift card.
Criminals also use the Tap-to-Pay trick, where cards added to wallets in Asia are remotely "drained" for purchases in the US. Cybersecurity companies and authorities are seeing an increase: for example, one day last month brought a record 330,000 fraudulent messages.
The FBI and DHS are investigating the networks, arrests and trials are already underway; experts urge to ignore suspicious SMS, not to follow links, and to carefully monitor bank statements.
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