Have you received a text message purporting to be from The Ministry of Transportation of Canada demanding a payment of an outstanding balance? The message goes on to state that failure to pay the outstanding balance will result in severe consequences, including your driver’s license being suspended, increased fines, court proceedings, or a hold on your motor vehicle registration. THIS IS A SCAM and you should not respond to the message in any way.
Fraudulent text messages demanding money have been circulating across Canada for the last couple of years. with increasing regularity Authorities in different provinces have issued warnings to drivers as they seem to be the primary targets of many of these latest phishing scams. Random numbers have been sending out official sounding text messages with malicious links directing drivers to pay for recent speeding tickets, parking fines or crossing toll bridges.
WHAT ARE PHISHING SCAMS?
Phishing scams are fraudulent attempts by cybercriminals to deceive individuals into providing sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords, credit card details, or other personal data. These scams often involve fake emails, websites, or messages designed to appear as if they come from legitimate sources, such as banks, government agencies, or well-known companies.
Here are some common tactics used in phishing scams:
- Email Phishing: Attackers send emails that look like they come from a trusted entity. The email often includes a sense of urgency, prompting the recipient to click on a malicious link or download an infected attachment.
- Spear Phishing: This is a more targeted form of phishing where the attacker customizes the message to a specific individual or organization, making it appear more legitimate.
- SMS Phishing (Smishing): Phishing attempts made through text messages, urging recipients to click on links or provide personal information via text.
- Voice Phishing (Vishing): Fraudsters call individuals, pretending to be legitimate organizations, asking for sensitive information over the phone.
- Clone Phishing: Attackers duplicate a legitimate message or website and change the links or attachments to malicious ones.
How to recognize phishing scams:
- Misspelled domain names or email addresses.
- Poor grammar or spelling mistakes in the message.
- Urgent or threatening language (e.g., “Your account will be locked unless you take action immediately”).
- Requests for personal or financial information.
- Suspicious attachments or links that don’t match the context of the message.
Phishing scams aim to exploit trust and trick people into exposing sensitive data, leading to identity theft, financial loss, or other security breaches.
REPORT SPAM TEXT MESSAGES
To protect yourself from smishing, it’s essential to be cautious with messages from unfamiliar numbers or those that seem suspicious. If you’re unsure about a message’s authenticity, reach out to the legitimate source through a different method. Most importantly, avoid responding or clicking on any links.
Instead, forward the spam message to 7726 (SPAM on most keypads). This notifies your cellular provider, prompting them to investigate the message. Canadian telecom companies take spam seriously, and reporting to 7726 helps them detect new smishing tactics and block spam for everyone. The process for forwarding may vary depending on your device.
To forward a phishing message on an Android device:
- Tap the message (ensuring not to click on any links within the message) to open the conversation view
- From the conversation view, press and hold the message you want to forward until a menu prompt appears
- From the menu prompt select Forward (or an arrow icon), which directs you to a new message draft or a contact list
- Enter 7726 in the To: field and press the send button.
To forward a phishing message from iOS:
- Tap the message (ensuring not to click on any links within the message) to open the conversation view
- From the conversation view, press and hold the message you want to forward until a menu prompt appears
- From the menu prompt, select More… to present a checklist for messages to select for forwarding
- Select any additional messages to include and then tap the arrow icon (on the bottom right corner) to create a new message draft
- Enter 7726 in the To: field and press the send button.
In Canada, reporting spam to 7726 is free and will not count towards your data or messaging usage package. You can contact your cellular provider directly if you have questions about the reporting process.