'Smishing' text message scams increase by 700%
Text message "smishing" scams have risen massively since last year
Which? have reported a dramatic increase in the amount of text message scams people are receiving, with figures from Proofpoint showing scams have risen by 700% compared to the end of last year.
Known as "smishing" (SMS Phishing), these scams are texts pretending to be from banks, delivery companies and phone networks that try to get people to input personal details.
This is due to scammers taking advantage of covid-19 shopping trends, such as people getting more deliveries to their homes and shopping online.
Scammers have also pretended to be businesses, after many businesses have increased the amount of texts sent to their customers during covid-19.
Figures from Proofpoint also show parcel smishing to be the most common scam, outweighing banking smishing attacks by three-to-one.
Consumer group Which? has published a guide to SMS practice for businesses wishing to protect customers from fraud - with major companies such as Barclays, TSB, DPD and Hermes agreeing to follow it.
The guide advises businesses to avoid hyperlinks and not include phone numbers, with Which? also finding that 71% of people do not trust texts from companies to be totally safe.
Recipients of phishing attacks are able to report scam texts to the Which? "scam sharer" tool, with 9,000 cases being reported since the tool was set up in March 2021.
Rocio Concha, Which? director of policy and advocacy said: "Smishing attempts have risen dramatically - with fraudsters taking advantage of the pandemic to trick consumers into giving away personal details and transferring their hard-earned cash.
"Businesses must play their part to protect people from scams."