Every so often the internet is abuzz with conversation about some new scam or spam that is going around. These incidents usually involve some kind of malicious software, and in this case it involves ransomware that is being spread through some kind of spam message that might even potentially end up looking quite innocuous to you even though it poses some serious dangers for your device.
If you have a device that runs a version of Android that has been updated beyond version 5.1, you are susceptible for an attack. The way an attack would work is that you would receive a text message with some kind of link within it, and if you click on this link the ransomware is going to be installed onto your phone and the malicious actors would basically take your device hostage.
ESET's Researcher Luka Stefanko first detected this ransomware spam SMS about three weeks ago, and found that the ransomware was also being spread through a variety of Reddit posts. What’s truly surprising is that the XDA developers community forum posted a link to this ransomware as well, although they quickly removed it when they were told of the true purpose of this link and it seems like the post was one of many that this forum sees every day.
According to ESET, the execution of this ransomware attack has been less than efficient, and it is for this reason that you don’t really need to worry about your phone getting compromised by it. Just make sure you don’t click on any links you get over text unless you know who the text is from.
erhui1979 / Getty Images
Read next: Google Play Store is working on Its Subscription Service Play Pass
If you have a device that runs a version of Android that has been updated beyond version 5.1, you are susceptible for an attack. The way an attack would work is that you would receive a text message with some kind of link within it, and if you click on this link the ransomware is going to be installed onto your phone and the malicious actors would basically take your device hostage.
ESET's Researcher Luka Stefanko first detected this ransomware spam SMS about three weeks ago, and found that the ransomware was also being spread through a variety of Reddit posts. What’s truly surprising is that the XDA developers community forum posted a link to this ransomware as well, although they quickly removed it when they were told of the true purpose of this link and it seems like the post was one of many that this forum sees every day.
According to ESET, the execution of this ransomware attack has been less than efficient, and it is for this reason that you don’t really need to worry about your phone getting compromised by it. Just make sure you don’t click on any links you get over text unless you know who the text is from.
erhui1979 / Getty Images
Read next: Google Play Store is working on Its Subscription Service Play Pass
The main rule is never click any links from someone you don't know. That's the only thing we should do to avoid become victim of these SMS scams. I have heard about them for years, and until now they are still using this trick to steal people's money and personal information. We should report them to the authority and complaint boards like http://whycall.me to make more people aware of them.
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