A man residing in suburban Sydney, Australia, faced charges from the New South Wales police on Wednesday for allegedly sending 17 million scam text messages corresponding to nearly every adult in the country.
The 39-year-old, whose identity remains undisclosed, was accused of being the sole perpetrator behind the onslaught of scam texts that have been affecting mobile phone users nationwide.
The deceptive messages, which included fabricated links claiming to be from entities like Australia Post or toll road operators, were purportedly disseminated using “SIM boxes.”
These devices have the capability to send tens of thousands of messages each day. The man was charged with utilizing networked equipment to “commit serious offense” and was subsequently granted bail.
Jason Smith, the commander of the police Cybercrime Squad, highlighted the prevalence of SMS phishing as a common tactic employed by scammers to obtain banking and other personal information from victims.
“SMS phishing is one of the most common tactics deployed by scammers to obtain banking and other personal information from a victim,”
“SIM boxes can hold over 250 active SIM cards and will typically send out up to 150,000 messages per day containing phishing lures to various scams,” he said
