Achi news desk-
At least once a day, Digvijay Kosamia checks his vibrating mobile phone to check the latest text he has received, only to find a “frustrating” message from an unknown number.
Sometimes it’s supposedly a notice from Canada Post about a package Kosamia didn’t order.
Other times, the message informs him that a major bank has frozen his card, along with the first four digits of the account in question. All he has to do to unlock the card is follow a secret URL.
“I don’t think I fell for it,” says the Vancouverite, who considers himself quite technologically savvy.
“But I’m worried about my wife and my children. I’m sure they have.”
Kosamia’s experience – he estimates he sometimes gets up to 15 or 20 spam texts a week – is far from unique in Canada. Many say they are increasingly inundated with spam and fraudulent text messages.
The organizations tasked with monitoring spam efforts and enforcing laws against them say the numbers back up that common perception. In particular, messages containing phishing – an attack where a scammer tries to trick the recipient into clicking on a malicious link, downloading malware or sharing sensitive information – are on the rise.
“The calls may have decreased,” Kosamia said.
“But the spam messages have increased
A multi-million dollar problem
Last year, 5,395 text messages were reported to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, a national police service that collects fraud information across Canada and assists local police with enforcement and prevention.
Nearly $24 million was lost to fraud where text was the initial contact method last year, anti-fraud center spokesman Jeff Horncastle said, noting that marked an increase over 2022.
But those numbers are likely a “drop in the bucket,” as the center estimates that only five to 10 percent of fraud victims report incidents.
“Honestly, from what we’re seeing, everyone is a target and a lot of it has to do with automation,” Horncastle said.
Canada’s telecommunications regulator, which enforces anti-spam legislation, is also seeing more text message scams.
In the six months leading up to March 31 this year, the national Spam Reporting Center received 4,705 complaints through its online form. About a fifth of the complaints were about text messages.
About 45 percent of those text reports were phishing messages and 13 percent were other scams, according to the CRTC.
He said reports have increased in part because of the number of employment scams, which start with text messages containing promises of good pay for a few hours of work a week.
Those often evolve into more serious threats, Horncastle said. He described a frequent scenario where victims, after making a little money, are asked to eventually donate some of their own money to curry favor with the employer. The CRTC noted that recipients may also unwittingly become a “mule” — someone who transfers illegally acquired money or goods on behalf of a scammer.
As well as artificial intelligence playing a role in making spam text messages seem more personal, Horncastle said victims often fall for these schemes because the initial message comes with an attached logo of a prominent organization that the sender claims to be from him.
“We’re seeing … Service Ontario, the CRA logo, the Canada.ca logo coming up on text messages to make it more believable,” he said.
“If they claim to be a particular financial institution, they will include the first four digits of the client card number. Many victims don’t realize that the first four to six digits are all the same with a particular financial institution.”
Defense techniques
Those who receive an unexpected text message claiming to be from their bank, law enforcement or a government agency should never provide personal information in reply, according to the Canadian Telecommunications Association, which represents carriers and manufacturers in the industry.
Instead, he recommends calling the relevant organization using the contact information on their website to determine if the message is legitimate.
The association is also urging anyone who receives a text message they believe to be fraudulent to forward it to 7726 (SPAM), which will alert their cellular provider to open an investigation into the message itself .
“Wireless providers continue to invest in developing and deploying measures to reduce unwanted text messages, such as the use of scanning and filtering software, while also ensuring that users still receive the text messages that matter to them, ” CTA spokesman Nick Kyonka said in a statement. statement.
“We advise users not to click on any links in text messages that appear suspicious, including messages from someone you don’t know or didn’t expect.”
Pierre-Luc Denis, director of electronic commerce enforcement for the CRTC, said the regulator is working with telecommunications companies to allow them to block certain types of traffic deemed harmful to customer security as they emerge.
It is one example of how the CRTC is trying to be proactive as text message scams develop. But Denis said scammers are always trying to stay one step ahead, adjusting their plans based on what works and what doesn’t, or in response to law enforcement and regulators in catch wind
“Bad actors find new ways to try to get their way, so to speak,” he said.
“The technical landscape is evolving very quickly, and once a certain technique is either overused or noticed … you’ll see a turn off to a different type of scam.”
Denis described the increase in such incidents as an “international trend,” noting that the CRTC consults with its counterparts in other countries to stay up-to-date on emerging scams that may find to his way to Canada.
“It’s a global problem,” he said.
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on May 5, 2024.
