Beware of smishing

What is it, again? It is called ‘Smishing’, or phishing over SMS. How does it work? You will receive a message saying “Thank you for signing up for X or Y service, you will be charged Rs 10 per day. To unsubscribe go to (website name).” This is just to lure you to visit the website. If you do, you’ll soon find yourself a victim.

Then? The website is just a cover for the SMS sender to install a ‘trojan’, a programme that can maliciously monitor your computer usage, steal your passwords and turn your machine into an unwilling accomplice in internet crime.

What can you do? Though it is quite torturous, we would suggest that you call your operator’s call centre to check on the veracity of such messages and inform them that you did not subscribe to any such service.