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Home Trivia Trivia: Which Cyber Attacks Use SMS Text Messages to Dupe the Victim?

Trivia: Which Cyber Attacks Use SMS Text Messages to Dupe the Victim?

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August 14, 2025

TRIVIA

Which Cyber Attacks Use SMS Text Messages to Dupe the Victim?

Most phishing attacks are delivered by email. The threat actors may register a domain that mimics a genuine organization or they spoof the emails to make them look like they came from a genuine, trusted source. The email will have a malicious payload hidden inside an attachment or it will contain a link that takes you to a credential harvesting website. Smishing attacks use SMS text messages instead of emails. Studies have shown that people are more likely to trust a link in an SMS message than they are in an email. An SMS message can be doctored to look like it has been sent by any phone number at all. If the number is already in your contacts list your smartphone displays the fraudulent message in the list of genuine messages from the real number. This helps to mask the malicious nature of the SMS. Whaling attacks are phishing attacks that are targeted at senior executives. Normal phishing attacks are generic. They are sent to thousands of potential victims. Whaling attacks are much more subtle, and use social engineering techniques to engage the victim into a conversation. The threat actors play a longer game, slowly ingratiating themselves into a position of trust. normal phishing attacks go off like a landmine when they are triggered. They instantly detonate. Whaling attacks are much more protracted affairs. Vishing attacks are voice calls that have been altered to appear as though they come from a recognized source. In a typical vishing attack, the threat actor impersonates a bank or credit card company's fraud investigator. They tell the victim their account has been compromised and ask for verification information about the account so that they can proceed and deal with the issue. Of course, using the information provided, they can access the victim's account.

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Dave McKay has over 30 years of experience in the IT industry. He has been a freelance programmer, the manager of an international software development team, an IT services project manager, and a Data Protection Officer. He is now a technology journalist and independent Data Protection and Compliance consultant.

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