Increasingly common, fake SMS scams continue to claim new victims. Sending premium messages is one of them.
They are the ordeal of the banks and many French people are faced with them. Scams of all kinds spread at a speed that surpasses us and leave traces behind them. Whether physical, cybercrime, money extortion, blackmail and threats via email address, messages or telephone canvassing, there are numerous scams on the internet. The digital age has its share of responsibility in the appearance of these new fraudulent activities.
But recently, a new form of scam has emerged among users : premium SMS messages sent without the knowledge of telephone service subscribers. They come from hacked cell phones with unknown numbers. Recently, users had complained on internet forums and to UFC-Que Choisir, concerning numerous surcharged SMS messages present on their invoices.
These overtaxed messages, the users were convinced: neither they nor anyone in their family was at the origin. In the space of around twenty minutes, however, no less than 19 messages sent to numbers billed between 20 cents and 4.50 euros per message could appear on their bill. And some usersYou had the unpleasant surprise of discovering an increase of 20 to 40 euros in this.
At the time of the events, the victims shared the same thing in common : they used an iPhone “jailbroken” ( in French “unbridled“) in order to avoid any protection. The trail of piracy linked to the download of an unofficial application, that is to say outside the dedicated application stores, was the most likely. Thus, it is the latter that would come from sending all these messages.
How it works ? Once your phone is hacked, the malicious people behind this infection will simply control your device without your knowledge. The latter will then send premium rate SMS messages from your smartphone. It is generally impossible to realize this since the virus causing these manipulations will delete them immediately and leave no trace of the said SMS in your history.
If in doubt, you should analyze the history of your sent messages and your various mobile data bills. If these are much higher than they should be, your phone could be sending SMS messages without your knowledge! Make sure you don’t have a loved one who can access your phone (a child, a parent, etc.) and send messages behind your back. If, despite everything, you think you have been hacked to send premium rate SMS messages, we advise you to go to an approved repairer.