Bukit Aman detects new phishing technique involving SMS

KUALA LUMPUR: A new phishing technique has been detected by Bukit Aman involving zones created by a planted base transceiver station (BTS).

Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said that a telco company had informed Bukit Aman of the new technique, saying that scammers are able to send fake SMS to potential victims near a planted BTS.

He added that these BTS were also able to throttle Internet speeds, bringing a 4G connection to as low as a 2G one.

“Let’s say you are in a shopping mall and you are near one of these BTS, you will then receive a SMS.

“If you click the link on the SMS you will be brought to a fake website that offers non-existing cheap electronics. Victims who fall prey from the cheap prices will then be brought to a payment gateway page,” said Comm Ramli Mohamed.

“When a victim attempts to pay for the ‘items’, the price will be far higher than the advertised price. Those who do not check will inadvertently approve payment, leading to losses,” he added.

Comm Ramli Mohamed said that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had announced in April 2023 that no URL links can be sent through SMS.

“As a precautionary step, the public are advised to not click on any links that were sent via SMS. As of now, there is no estimate as to how many victims have been duped by this syndicate,” he said.