Smishing Triad: The Scam Group Stealing the World’s Riches
1 min read
Summary
Smishing syndicates based in China have targeted people in at least 121 countries with scam text messages, often requesting payment for delivery of a package that never arrived or for unpaid toll road fees.
Such scams are increasingly successful, with threat actors exploiting the fact that people tend to be less wary of texts.
Scammers direct victims to a website where they are asked to enter personal details and make a small payment, while in the background, cybercriminals steal credit card details in real time.
Research suggests that there are at least seven “major” Chinese “phishing-as-a-service” actors, who often sell the kits they develop to less sophisticated criminal groups.
One of the most prominent such groups is known as the Smishing Triad, which has used more than 200,000 domains to carry out its scams.
The group has also been found to target bank cards to add to digital wallets, such as Apple Pay or Google Wallet, which allows criminals to use the cards while on the other side of the world.
