Security News > 2021 > November > Smishing kicks into high gear as scammers use package delivery texts as clickbait
'Tis the season for scammers to use SMS messages to deliver malicious links straight to your phone.
Jacinta Tobin explained the spike in malicious text messages in a blog post on Proofpoint's site.
In one smishing attack, the scammer sent a text about an"Early Bird Black Friday" package delivery with a landing page that looks like an authentic package notification.
"....misplaced trust is fueling this trend, so is a lack of awareness. Consider that 69% of people globally are unaware of or don't accurately know what smishing is. With 98% text message open rates and 8x click-through vs. email, the enormous damage mobile malware can do quickly becomes apparent."
Marketing company G2 reports that 82% of people say they open every text message they receive and 84% of consumers have received SMS messages from a business.
Report smishing and spam to the Spam Reporting Service via the reporting feature in your messaging client if it has one, or forward spam text messages to 7726.Read app install prompts closely, particularly for information regarding rights and privileges.