Just want to lay some friendly advice on the AC community about some of the scams running rampant across the world due to the increased usage of smartphones.
I know we all think we're pretty smart and up to date on things, and that we think we know it all when it comes to keeping our devices safe and secure from the predators that hound us every day. But, these folks are slicker than Bernie Madoff on a vasaline binge.
I mean really, how many of us have played e-mail games with the Nigerian e-mail scammers? We all have, admit it
Although "we" may feel secure in our abilities to protect "our" phone, what about that phone you bought for your parents, grandparents or children? Are they so up to date on these things? Hmmmm.... maybe, maybe not.
Here are some of the more common MO's that I've been seeing lately;
1. Premium SMS service scam. This works 2 ways. You're in a restaraunt, shop, etc, and you see an ad for some sort of fantastic deal. You only have to send a short sms to a 4 digit number. Boom! A day or two later, and you recieve an sms stating "Thank You for using our service. $ has been charged to your account" What the heck is this??????
Or.... you download a free app from one of many places. Of course the majority of free apps have advertising, usually across the top of the app. Of course with a smartphones touch-screen, it's quite easy to accidently touch the ad region. The browser opens and takes you to some strange web site. It's too late! They have your phone number, and just by going there, you have agreed to a premium SMS service, or some type of fee. (if you look on their site, it is usually written in small print somewhere)
The fix: Contact your provider and block all Premium SMS services.
2. The emergency money scam. This works for mothers with children, but there are variants. Here's how it goes... You recieve an sms from an unknown number "Mom, please put money (specific amount) on this number as soon as you can. I'll explain it to you when I get home. I'm ok so don't worry ". As we all know, phone money can easily be converted to pay for services, food, merchandise, and yes, even cash.
The fix: Call the person in question using their normal phone number.
3. Incoming calls only scam. Here's the skinny. You recieve an sms, from what looks like your provider, stating you can only recieve incoming calls. Included in the text, is a phone number you're supposed to call (which you assume is your provider's support dept). You call the number, it connects, then disconnects in most cases. You find out your phone works normally after that, and all is ok. Until you discover your account has been charged. Ouch!!!
The fix: Now think about this for a minute. How are you supposed to call a number, when your account is restricted to incoming calls only? And did you ever think about first checking to see if it's actually true? All providers differ in how they notify customers of these types of things. Some by mail, and some just restrict all traffic (phone and sms) to incoming only, relying on the customer to call their service number on the billing statement.
4. And finally, the rogue apps on a newly purchased device. Ever since computers have been sold to the consumer, there are occassions where they ship from the factory, complete with preinstalled virus's or malware. It's happened many times in the past, and it happens still today. Look, we all want to get a bargain on our device. To save a few bucks, because really, they are quite expensive when you look at it. So we buy one from a site that looks ok, but we never really heard of them before. When it arrives, we discover upon booting, that a lot of the preinstalled apps want to send us to all sorts of strange websites, or worse yet, the device trys to actually dial out to some strange number! Hopefully, none of these actually connect.
The Fix: Well, I suspect the unsavory place you bought it from will not accept returns. Your best hope, is to either uninstall the rogue apps, or root and install a fresh system, if you can. You're pretty much stuck with it now.
And yes, even I fell victim to the premium sms scam. I accidently hit the ad area on a downloaded free app.
The point is, if it looks like a skunk, walks like a skunk, and smells like a skunk,,,, it's probably a skunk!
I know we all think we're pretty smart and up to date on things, and that we think we know it all when it comes to keeping our devices safe and secure from the predators that hound us every day. But, these folks are slicker than Bernie Madoff on a vasaline binge.
I mean really, how many of us have played e-mail games with the Nigerian e-mail scammers? We all have, admit it
Although "we" may feel secure in our abilities to protect "our" phone, what about that phone you bought for your parents, grandparents or children? Are they so up to date on these things? Hmmmm.... maybe, maybe not.
Here are some of the more common MO's that I've been seeing lately;
1. Premium SMS service scam. This works 2 ways. You're in a restaraunt, shop, etc, and you see an ad for some sort of fantastic deal. You only have to send a short sms to a 4 digit number. Boom! A day or two later, and you recieve an sms stating "Thank You for using our service. $ has been charged to your account" What the heck is this??????
Or.... you download a free app from one of many places. Of course the majority of free apps have advertising, usually across the top of the app. Of course with a smartphones touch-screen, it's quite easy to accidently touch the ad region. The browser opens and takes you to some strange web site. It's too late! They have your phone number, and just by going there, you have agreed to a premium SMS service, or some type of fee. (if you look on their site, it is usually written in small print somewhere)
The fix: Contact your provider and block all Premium SMS services.
2. The emergency money scam. This works for mothers with children, but there are variants. Here's how it goes... You recieve an sms from an unknown number "Mom, please put money (specific amount) on this number as soon as you can. I'll explain it to you when I get home. I'm ok so don't worry ". As we all know, phone money can easily be converted to pay for services, food, merchandise, and yes, even cash.
The fix: Call the person in question using their normal phone number.
3. Incoming calls only scam. Here's the skinny. You recieve an sms, from what looks like your provider, stating you can only recieve incoming calls. Included in the text, is a phone number you're supposed to call (which you assume is your provider's support dept). You call the number, it connects, then disconnects in most cases. You find out your phone works normally after that, and all is ok. Until you discover your account has been charged. Ouch!!!
The fix: Now think about this for a minute. How are you supposed to call a number, when your account is restricted to incoming calls only? And did you ever think about first checking to see if it's actually true? All providers differ in how they notify customers of these types of things. Some by mail, and some just restrict all traffic (phone and sms) to incoming only, relying on the customer to call their service number on the billing statement.
4. And finally, the rogue apps on a newly purchased device. Ever since computers have been sold to the consumer, there are occassions where they ship from the factory, complete with preinstalled virus's or malware. It's happened many times in the past, and it happens still today. Look, we all want to get a bargain on our device. To save a few bucks, because really, they are quite expensive when you look at it. So we buy one from a site that looks ok, but we never really heard of them before. When it arrives, we discover upon booting, that a lot of the preinstalled apps want to send us to all sorts of strange websites, or worse yet, the device trys to actually dial out to some strange number! Hopefully, none of these actually connect.
The Fix: Well, I suspect the unsavory place you bought it from will not accept returns. Your best hope, is to either uninstall the rogue apps, or root and install a fresh system, if you can. You're pretty much stuck with it now.
And yes, even I fell victim to the premium sms scam. I accidently hit the ad area on a downloaded free app.
The point is, if it looks like a skunk, walks like a skunk, and smells like a skunk,,,, it's probably a skunk!
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