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How SMS fraud works and how to guard against it

apuchitnis.substack.com

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Re: How SMS fraud works and how to guard against it

#11

Post by cfn »

AdamJacobMuller wrote: post #2

This makes the assumption that Twitter blocked it due to SMS fraud. While that's a plausible theory an equally plausible theory is that they were worried about account hijacking and security (and allowed twitter blue subscribers to continue to use it on a you can pay me to be stupid context) which seems equally plausible. I take issue with a lot of the assumptions in the article but this is funny: > Identify and bloc…

Elon Musk said that they were being fleeced by SMS fraud when the change was announced.

Re: How SMS fraud works and how to guard against it

#14

Post by Tijdreiziger »

singleshot_ wrote: post #3

Fraud requires that someone make a misrepresentation. Who makes a misrepresentation when SMS fraud is committed? What is the misrepresentation? Is there any chance that this isn’t actually fraud and that companies who send out tons of text messages to any number a person specifies are just paying for their extraordinarily poor design?

The attacker misrepresents themselves as a legitimate user who just wants to set up 2FA on their account.

Re: How SMS fraud works and how to guard against it

#15

Post by apuchitnis »

AdamJacobMuller wrote: post #2

This makes the assumption that Twitter blocked it due to SMS fraud. While that's a plausible theory an equally plausible theory is that they were worried about account hijacking and security (and allowed twitter blue subscribers to continue to use it on a you can pay me to be stupid context) which seems equally plausible. I take issue with a lot of the assumptions in the article but this is funny: > Identify and bloc…

author here: Hey Adam - Elon has mentioned SMS fraud being the reason for blocking it on several occasions. See here: https://commsrisk.com/elon-musk-has-radical-solution-for-a2p....

Re libphonenumber: I think you misread me? I was definitely saying consider it :) I just don't have much personal experience with that approach.

Re: How SMS fraud works and how to guard against it

#16

Post by apuchitnis »

singleshot_ wrote: post #3

Fraud requires that someone make a misrepresentation. Who makes a misrepresentation when SMS fraud is committed? What is the misrepresentation? Is there any chance that this isn’t actually fraud and that companies who send out tons of text messages to any number a person specifies are just paying for their extraordinarily poor design?

I think the fraud here is that the user isn't an actual, legitimate user of the web service. Maybe 'user fraud' is a better term to use here.

Re: How SMS fraud works and how to guard against it

#17

Post by cultofmetatron »

Arch-TK wrote: post #12

I really want to know, why has everyone moved to SMS 2F"A"? What was wrong with authenticator applications? Were they really THAT user unfriendly?

my phone recently just died. only two years old. all my authenticator stuff is gone. sms is fine, I just move the sim to a new phone

Re: How SMS fraud works and how to guard against it

#20

Post by lotsofpulp »

Arch-TK wrote: post #12

I really want to know, why has everyone moved to SMS 2F"A"? What was wrong with authenticator applications? Were they really THAT user unfriendly?

Because phone number also provided a universal identifier that can make the data worth more when selling it.
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