FCC: Smishing attacks on the rise

The Federal Communications Commission has issued a warning that more SMS phishing, or smishing, attacks have been targeting Americans in an effort to exfiltrate personal data and cash, according to BleepingComputer. Unwanted text messages totaled 8,500 during the first six months of 2022, which is already more than half of the 15,300 unwanted messages reported last year, itself nearly three times higher than the messages tracked in 2019, said the FCC's Robocall Response Team. "In addition, some independent reports estimate billions of robotexts each month for example, RoboKiller estimates consumers received over 12 billion robotexts in June," the warning noted. The FCC noted that attackers performing smishing attacks have been leveraging believable lures, including package delivery concerns, unpaid bills, law enforcement actions, and bank account issues. Such attacks could be averted by not responding to messages from unknown numbers, refraining from sharing personal or financial details in text messages, and avoiding clicking on links, said the FCC.