KUALA LUMPUR: Fraudsters are using the wonders of mobile technology to perpetrate a new kind of scam via the short messaging service (SMS), says Bukit Aman.
Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said the department was informed of the new technique after a telco sounded the alarm.
He said with this new technique, scammers can send fake SMSes to victims near a planted base transceiver station (BTS).
A BTS or a baseband unit acts as a conduit for wireless communications between user equipment (in this case, cellphones) and a network (provided by telcos).
Comm Ramli said a BTS modified by the scammers can slow data connection speeds, making phones revert to a 2G connection.
When a phone cannot detect any “legitimate” signals, it is then open to be connected to a “pirate signal,” which will be used to spam phones within the range of the BTS.
“Let’s say you are in a shopping mall... near one of these BTSes – you will receive an SMS on your phone,” Comm Ramli told a press conference here yesterday.
“If you click the link on the SMS, you will be brought to a fake website that offers non-existent cheap electronics. Victims who fall for the cheap prices will then be brought to a payment gateway.
“When a victim attempts to make payment, the price of the ‘items’ will be far higher than the advertised price. Those who don’t check will inadvertently approve payment, leading to losses,” he added.
Comm Ramli reminded consumers that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission announced in April 2023 that no URL can be sent through SMS.
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