Another Spam Text Thread

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Technofreak

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#298929 28-Jul-2022 12:08

Just got this from an Aussie number 61483137102

STATUS UPDATE : Y0UR PACKAGE HAS BEEN ST0PPED @ 0UR P0STAL HUB. PLEASE RECTlFY THE lSSUE T0 AV0lD FURTHER lSSUES

Also included was a website link which I've not included here.

What is interesting is if you look closely each O (upper case) is actually a 0 (zero). Also each I (upper case is printed as l (lower case). Obviously not written by someone who knows the Roman alphabet.

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MadEngineer

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#2947387 28-Jul-2022 13:08

It’ll be someone with an infected android phone

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

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richms

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#2947392 28-Jul-2022 13:23

They do that as an attempt to bypass spam filters.

Someone has opened the link and installed the "security update" or "document viewer" or whatever that it warned them about needing and is now spewing all these SMSs out and the app puts the recipients into the blacklist so that people calling back to abuse them about it dont get thru and tip them off. This goes on until the telco cuts them off which seems to take forever.

Richard rich.ms

Technofreak

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#2947407 28-Jul-2022 14:11

MadEngineer: It’ll be someone with an infected android phone

Surely for that to work my number would need to be in their contact list?

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5

richms

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#2947408 28-Jul-2022 14:15

No, they swap contacts around so that the SMS comes from an unrelated number so you have no other way to get intouch with them, and also it uses other number lists as well.

Richard rich.ms

MadEngineer

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#2948257 30-Jul-2022 10:08

richms:

They do that as an attempt to bypass spam filters.

Someone has opened the link and installed the "security update" or "document viewer" or whatever that it warned them about needing and is now spewing all these SMSs out and the app puts the recipients into the blacklist so that people calling back to abuse them about it dont get thru and tip them off. This goes on until the telco cuts them off which seems to take forever.

You'll be able to call them from another number, for example a landline. I've done that for someone at work who was getting these txt messages just for curiosity and advised the person that answered the call that they need to take their phone to a repair shop

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

K8Toledo

846 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2955826 18-Aug-2022 02:27

Somewhat related....international police have arrested the crime group behind Flubot.

Takedown of SMS-based FluBot spyware infecting Android phones

Article calls it Spyware but Flubot was a worm not Spyware.

Yetti92

55 posts

Master Geek

#2955880 18-Aug-2022 08:52

With the regular security updates we get on some android devices, was this patchable?

I used to get daily Spam texts from NZ numbers mainly prompting downloads for the past 6 months but they have all stopped in the last month.

K8Toledo

846 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2955921 18-Aug-2022 10:23

Yetti92:

With the regular security updates we get on some android devices, was this patchable?

I used to get daily Spam texts from NZ numbers mainly prompting downloads for the past 6 months but they have all stopped in the last month.

See my post above. ;)