Detecting a scam sent by SMS
Smishing banks on haste and on a brand's reputation. Yet the clues that expose the fraud come back almost identically every time.
Smishing — a portmanteau of SMS and phishing — consists of taking on the appearance of a reputable organisation to extract your credentials, your bank data or a payment. The settings vary with the seasons, but the mechanics stay fixed: a manufactured urgency, a link that copies an official site, and a request no serious body would make by message.
The clues all these frauds share
- •An out-of-proportion urgency: barely a few hours to react, failing which you'd lose a parcel, a refund or a right.
- •A link that doesn't lead to the organisation's official domain, frequently shortened or subtly misspelt.
- •A request for bank details, a code received by message or a password — which no organisation asks for this way.
- •A token amount to pay, between one and three euros, whose only purpose is to capture your card number.
- •Clumsy wording, disconcerting punctuation or the complete absence of any personalised element.
The held-parcel scam
The go-to scenario, because it almost always lands at the right moment.
How to spot itThe fake Vitale card scam
A public service hijacked, because it inspires everyone's trust.
How to spot itThe fake bank adviser scam
The most ruinous, because it runs through a convincing human voice.
How to spot itThe fake fine and fake tax scam
Two opposite faces: the fear of a penalty, or the mirage of a refund.
How to spot itThe fake training account scam
Here the rule is crystal clear: all cold-calling is illegal, so every message is suspect.
How to spot itReporting beats deleting
Forward the message to 33700, free of charge, then give the sender's number when the service asks for it. Deleting the SMS protects you, reporting it protects everyone. In case of harm, cybermalveillance.gouv.fr points you to the appropriate course of action.
Report an abusive SMSAn essential clarification
SMS Anonyme has no connection with the organisations mentioned on these pages, cited only because crooks hijack their names. Our service is moreover confined to personal, one-off sends, from a masked number: it broadcasts no campaign or commercial message, and could not be the source of a fraudulent SMS received under our name or that of a third party.
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