Gawkowski is preparing a whip for fraudsters. Is this the end of the era of fake text messages?

There is no need to convince anyone that smishing (i.e. extorting data and money via SMS) is a big problem in Poland. At Next.gazeta.pl, we write about new fraudulent smishing campaigns every day. Criminals impersonate banks, telecoms, courier companies, online stores and even state institutions.

And it is these institutions that have decided to deal with the phenomenon of smishing. that the CSIRT NASK team has launched an IT system that will be used to exchange information on fake news between telecommunications undertakings and CSIRT NASK, the Police and the President of UKE.

As we read, telecommunications companies processing SMS messages can now gain access to the system for exchanging fake message patterns by sending an e-mail to the following address: telegraf@cert.pl.

Public entities, in turn, may reserve the overrides they use for sending SMS messages. Subtitles are the sender’s name, i.e. information that is displayed to the recipient instead of the phone number. An example of an override is an abbreviation in SMS titles, e.g. “e-US” used by the National Tax Administration.

At this point, cybercriminals can easily impersonate companies and institutions thanks to the overrides. Their reservation will make their lives much more difficult. It is a pity that – for now – the possibility of reserving overrides is limited to public entities, while large private enterprises (such as courier companies) are just as often victims of smishing.

No more fake text messages? From March 25, a new obligation for telecoms

Soon, telecoms will block SMS messages with proprietary subtitles that do not come from a public entity. According to the Ministry of Digital Affairs, from March 25, 2024, such an obligation will apply to all entrepreneurs connected to the new system.

I am convinced that thanks to the launch of the system for exchanging patterns of fraudulent messages, to which telecommunications undertakings, the Office of Electronic Communications and the Central Office for Combating Cybercrime can connect from today, the fight against telecommunications abuses and limiting the number of fraudulent SMSes that we all receive every day will be achieved. to the next level. The ability to reserve overrides also has this purpose. We will feel the effects in just 3 months

– emphasizes the Deputy Prime Minister, head of the Ministry of Digital Affairs, Krzysztof Gawkowski.

What is phishing?

Phishing is a method of fraud that involves impersonating a known person, company, organization or institution. The goal of fraudsters is to gain the trust of a potential victim and force him or her to provide, for example, personal data, account password or credit card number.

Phishing campaigns are usually massive. Fraudsters send identical e-mails or text messages to thousands of people, hoping that at least a small part of them is waiting for a parcel from an online store or using the bank they are trying to impersonate.

So how can you protect yourself against phishing? First of all, use the Internet wisely. Before we click on any link received by e-mail or SMS, it is better to make sure which website it actually leads to. A crafted website is usually embedded in a foreign domain or its address differs from the address of the original bank or website website. A company using a Polish national domain will not ask for data on a website with a domain belonging to, for example, Russia or Honduras.