The hackers will send a spoofing SMS from an unknown number to the government officials, requesting that they contact them back. In the event that they do phone back, a phishing attempt will be carried out, and unauthorized access will be acquired to the user’s device. In order to carry out the attack, the hackers may also make a missed call from a recognized number on the mobile device of the victim. This kind of hacking is used by cybercriminals to trick their targets into opening an SMS that contains links to other malicious websites. If the victim uses their device to access any of these URLs, it will be hacked and sensitive information will be taken without their knowledge.
Cabinet Division warns about fake SMS/call hackers
According to the advice, the cellphone numbers of armed forces officials are being used by adversarial intelligence agencies to send false SMS and WhatsApp messages to targets. These communications are being sent using the officials’ personal phones.
Using a variety of websites and mobile applications, hackers are able to manufacture bogus numbers. A missed call or the forwarding of a well-designed message are the two methods that are used the vast majority of the time in order to deceive the targets into divulging their private information or clicking on harmful websites.
In addition, the cabinet division urged the government personnel not to answer any calls from unidentified numbers or ring back to calls from unknown numbers. They were also instructed not to reply to any communications from unknown senders. It has suggested to authorities in the government that they implement two-factor authentication for WhatsApp and any other platforms that are relevant.
