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Bengaluru Police Chief warns about Smishing scam

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The City Police Commissioner B Dayananda in his latest "A cyber tip a day, keeps fraudsters away," online campaign, warned citizens regarding fake text messages and URL links forwarded by the cyber fraudsters to trick people into downloading malware, sharing sensitive information, or losing money.

The rise of online fraud is a concerning trend in the realm of cybercrime, he said. Online fraudsters keep hunting for new ways to steal your sensitive information such as personal data, financial details, or login credentials and ultimately end up emptying your bank account in different deceptive ways.

These scams have gained prominence due to their widespread use, effectiveness, and the increasing reliance on mobile devices for communication and transactions.

Recently, with the rise of SMS frauds, the Indian government has released an alert for 'Smishing Scams.'

Typical email-based phishing scams are often easy to spot as they are often poorly written with spelling errors, come from unusuallooking email addresses and contain inconsistent information.

Smishing, on the other hand, exploits our ingrained habit of swiftly responding to requests such as bank alerts, one-time Passwords (OTPs) and payment URLs, sent via text messages.

It is also often difficult to determine if the number sending the message should be trusted. "The messages often contain a call to action requiring immediate attention to avoid some sort of negative outcome such as a bank account being closed or a fine from the tax department for failing to file a tax return. In such cases, it's only natural to panic and fall into a trap," the city top cop said.

In order to avoid falling victim to this type of scam, the Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda suggested the citizens to not click on any such links as the banks, telcos and government departments do not send links via SMS for verifications or transactions in an unexpected SMS.

He also requested the citizens to not act immediately before verifying the details in the message and see if it can be trusted.

"The majority of smishing scams originate from unknown numbers and are fishing for a response. Avoid responding to a message or calls from an unknown or suspicious number. No matter how tempting an offer from an unknown number might seem, remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," B Dayananda added.

As saying goes that precaution is better than treatment, hence, it’s better to avoid clicking on suspicious links or sharing personal information over text messages, especially if they are unsolicited, the Police Commissioner added.

Dos:

• Verify message sources before taking action.
• Exercise caution with messages from unknown numbers.
• Stay informed about online security threats.

Don'ts:

• Avoid clicking on suspicious links in text messages.
• Refrain from sharing personal information via SMS.
• Don't panic and act impulsively; verify first.