What is ‘smishing’ in Peru? Criminals access personal information from banks under this modality

Scams are the order of the day. Currently, due to the frequent use of mobile devices, many people choose to manage all their finances through these technological devices. However, crime has managed to gain ground using different methods to scam in the digital environment.

Many scams begin by receiving a text message, in which the criminals induce the victim to enter links of dubious origin. This method is called ‘smishing’ and is used by cybercriminals. In this note you learn more information about this type of scam.

What is ‘smishing’?

It is a type of phishingwhich is presented through social engineering. It is developed through fraudulent messages as a kind of bait, waiting for the receiving user to enter a certain link to start the scam and theft operation.

Various users, at some point, have received notices related to obtaining a prize, be it objects, money, trips and other attractive things. Several of those MSM They refer you to a link, in which they request that you enter personal information “to send the prize or gift.” Even experts in the field explain that by simply accessing one of these links, criminals can already enter the system of your cellular device.

The scam also involves impersonating alerts from banking entities. The criminals send messages indicating that unusual operations have been detected in the user’s account, which makes the victim believe that something has happened. Customers provide card information and scam or theft occurs.

What to do if I receive a suspicious MSM?

If at any time you see a suspicious message, you should first ignore it and avoid entering the link it provides.

• Report it as spam– This will prevent it from appearing in your notification tray again.
• Block the sender number: It is recommended to block the number and thus prevent these types of notifications from reaching you again.
• Call or request information from official sites: If at any time you receive a notification of an emergency with your bank, you should call or approach the entity. This will ensure that you are not a victim of cyber criminals.

Various banking entities specify that they do not send MSM to report any problem in their accounts. Likewise, they stressed that they never request personal credit or debit card information.

Likewise, banks are not the only ones that have been impersonated by cybercriminals to send notices, as cases of messages from State entities have also been seen.