Cisco reports rise of text message scams
By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 15 July 2009, 18:15 IST   |    1 Comments
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Cisco reports rise of text message scams
Bangalore: Obama administration has made strengthening U.S. cyber security a high priority. Other countries are also stepping up efforts to enhance cyber security and prevent cybercrime. But now spammers have found a new way to obtain critical information. According to security report released by Cisco Systems, cyber scammers are hoping that many people who might not fall for a phishing scam via e-mail may still be easy targets through their mobile phone. The report further states that spammers are now using fake text messages that appear to come from a legitimate bank. In most of these scams the SMS messages direct the recipient to call a telephone number where an automated message prompts the caller to provide log-in ID or account number and PIN. Many other messages provide URL that leads to a phishing site which looks like a legitimate site. People who get this information think that they have received it from their bank. "People are giving up information through the voice channel in a way they never would do through e-mail or the Web," said Patrick Peterson, Cisco's Chief Security Researcher. The report states that so far customers who have been targeted belong to First Community Credit Union and Buffalo Metropolitan Federal Credit Union in New York and of BCT Federal Credit Union in New York and Pennsylvania. Cyber criminals continue to use sophisticated technology. Peterson said that researchers have come across a service called VirTest that will test malware and viruses against products from the major antivirus vendors for a fee.

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