Recognising a scam received by SMS
Smishing plays on panic and on the reputation of a well-known brand. Fortunately, the signals that betray fraud almost always recur identically.
Smishing, a blend of SMS and phishing, consists of posing as a trusted organisation in order to extract your credentials, your bank data or a payment. The disguises change with the seasons, but the mechanism remains: an invented urgency, a link that mimics an official site, and a request no serious organisation would make by message.
The signals common to all these frauds
- •An excessive urgency: barely a few hours to act, on pain of losing a parcel, a refund or a right.
- •A link that doesn't lead to the organisation's official domain, often shortened or slightly misspelt.
- •A request for bank details, a code received by message or a password, that no organisation ever asks for in this way.
- •A small amount to pay, between one and three euros, whose only aim is to grab your card number.
- •Clumsy phrasing, strange punctuation or the total absence of any element that concerns you personally.
- The blocked-parcel scamThe number-one scenario, because it almost always lands at the right moment.
- The fake Vitale card scamA public service hijacked, because it inspires everyone's trust.
- The fake bank adviser scamThe most ruinous, because it comes through a convincing human voice.
- The fake fine and fake tax scamTwo opposite faces: fear of a penalty, or the mirage of a refund.
- The fake training-account scamHere the rule is clear: all cold-calling is illegal, so every message is suspect.
Reporting is better than deleting
Forward the message to 33700, free of charge, then provide the sender's number when the service asks you to. Deleting the SMS keeps you safe, reporting it protects everyone. In case of harm, cybermalveillance.gouv.fr points you to the right course of action.
Report an abusive SMSA necessary clarification
Envoyer SMS Gratuit has no connection with the organisations cited on these pages, mentioned only because scammers usurp their name. Our service is, moreover, limited to personal and occasional sends, entirely free: it broadcasts neither campaign nor commercial message, and therefore cannot be the origin of a fraudulent SMS received under our name or that of a third party.
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