SMS scams seem to be everywhere these days. Over the last 12 months, ParentShield reports it has intercepted and blocked twice as many text scam attempts as the previous 12 months, and is issuing a warning to parents who may be considering a first mobile phone for their children.
SMS scams are increasing and getting more sophisticated
Scammers are becoming more sophisticated, which means that their SMS messages look ever more genuine. This is worrying enough when the recipient is an adult, but when it’s a child, infinitely more so. There has been a particular rise, says the Network, in SMS messages particularly aimed at children with a target of defrauding parents. These scams leverage the emotional concern and urgency to protect children to overshadow any doubt over legitimacy.
For children getting mobile phones for the very first time, it’s important to raise awareness and talk to children, and share examples of scam messages between all family and friends. By using a suitable service, argues the network, it is also possible and advisable to completely block all SMS from unknown senders.
Examples of SMS scams sent to children
The ‘broken phone scam’ is a phishing text message aimed at ‘mums’. The personalisation of a message by using a recipient’s name increases its ability to suck a victim in exponentially. As they have no way of knowing who they are texting, generic names, such as ‘mum’ or ‘dad’ etc would land on far more than ‘Gary, Sarah etc. The way they use the love a mother has for their child, to extort them, is sickening.
“Hi mum, I am texting you off a friends phone my phone is broke and theirs is about to die, can you text me on my new number on WhatsApp 07852333079”
They work one the hope that the mother they happen to land on panics and follows the instructions, only to be told that money needs to be transferred.
The scam message can be sent from a spoofed number so as to look familiar to the recipient, or even exactly match a known number so vigilence is always required, says the Network.
Other examples include
- Free giveaways: A text message may offer a free prize or giveaway, but requires the recipient to provide personal information to claim it.
- Job offers: A text message may offer a high-paying job, but requires the recipient to provide a fee or personal information to apply.
- Charity scams: A text message may ask for donations for a fake charity or disaster relief fund.
- Tech support scams: A text message may claim that the recipient’s device is infected with malware and offer a fake tech support service.
- Lottery scams: A text message may notify the recipient that they have won a large sum of money and ask for personal information or a fee to claim the prize.
- Debt collection scams: A text message may claim that the recipient owes a debt and threatens legal action unless they make a payment immediately.
How to stop your children being scammed by text messages
Here are some steps to help prevent children from being scammed by text messages:
- Educate them: Teach children about scams and how they work, including the types of messages they might receive. Explain that scammers may try to trick them into giving away personal information or money.
- Set rules: Establish clear rules for the use of mobile devices and emphasize the importance of not responding to unsolicited messages or calls.
- Monitor their activity: Regularly check the messages and call logs on your child’s phone to see if there are any suspicious or unknown numbers.
- Teach them to be skeptical: Encourage children to be skeptical of unsolicited messages and to never give out personal information, such as their name, address, or financial information.
- Report suspicious messages: Teach children to report any suspicious messages to you or another trusted adult.
- Use parental controls: Use parental controls to limit the types of apps and services that your child can access on their phone.
- Keep software updated: Regularly update the software on your child’s phone to protect against known vulnerabilities.
By taking these steps and being vigilant, you can help protect children from falling victim to SMS scams by text message.
About ParentShield
ParentShield is a UK Mobile Network designed to help parents introduce their youngsters to the world of mobile phone ownership in a smart, sensible, and safe manner. Its rolling monthly contracts integrate a range of safety features to ensure that children gain a sense of independence without facing the risks that they might when using traditional carriers. It is already helping thousands of families become more tech-savvy than ever before.
ParentShield, being designed with Child Protection from the ground up and has many differences such as the removal of traditional Voicemail facility from its network. The security weaknesses of Mobile Phone Voicemail have been well known and discussed ever since the tragic instances of Voicemail hacking started to come to light. Voicemail is also stored by all the major networks ‘in the clear’ completely unencrypted, and this falls below a standard that’s suitable for child protection, according to the Network.
Fortunately for Parents looking for a kid-friendly SIM card, ParentShield is designed to be one of the best SIM cards for children from the ground up. The network also offers full SMS monitoring and recording and alerting so parents can be alerted should any of their children’s messages contain any concerning content.
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