There really is nothing that scammers won’t try.
On Monday, a reporter for The Verge wrote that they had seemingly received a spam text from none other than themselves. What was initially dismissed as a random fluke, however, is increasingly looking like a widespread scamming effort. A number of Verizon Wireless customers have reported receiving spam texts that appear to come from their own phone numbers, prompting the company to involve law enforcement. “Our team is actively working to block these messages, and we have engaged with U.S. law enforcement to identify and stop the source of this fraudulent activity,” a company spokesperson toldThe Verge.
There has been some speculation that this is an effort by bad actors based in Russia, as the link in the messages reportedly sent users to Russian state media network Channel One Russia. Many have feared that the U.S. could see potential retaliation in cyberspace from Russia due to the U.S. sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Verizon, however, has stated that they “have no indication that this fraudulent activity is originating in Russia.”
