Why you should never open these texts

The ‘Flubot’ scam first arrived in Australia in August 2021, characterised by a text from an Australian phone number that enticed users to click on a link that would then infect their device with malware.

Since the first report, thousands of Australians have had the malware texts sent to their phone. In the first eight weeks, 13,000 Australians made a formal complaint to the Scamwatch division of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

At first, phone users were tricked into clicking the scam link by promises of a missed voicemail text. Then this progressed to clicking on the URL provided to track a delivery parcel.

Scamwatch warned that the scammers’ strategy had changed again. Now Australians are being duped into thinking their photos have been shared online.

When they click the link, they are taken to a page saying their phone has been infected. The link claiming to remove the virus is indeed the real malware.

One person’s post on Reddit showing scam texts from five different numbers gathered thousands of reactions on Monday.

“Yep. I got one today that basically said ‘We failed to deliver your order, what are you going to do?’ Then the link. It’s bloody annoying when it happens in the middle of the night,” one person said.

“I‘ve had a huge influx of spam messages after picking up a call from a random number a few weeks ago. The call hung up immediately and my number was likely sold to an ’active numbers’ list. So – if you don‘t know the number, don’t pick up,” another replied.

“I have an iPhone for work and the inbox is full of this crap. I have Android for personal use, and I don‘t see these messages at all. The Google messages app auto filters them out into a separate folder so it doesn’t clutter your inbox.”

One user even floated the idea that QR check-in data had been compromised and was leading to the influx of texts.

“Tinfoil hat time: I think QR code check-in data has been sold off. Scammers have got a whole bunch of new databases of contact details to work with.

The most recent statistics say that as of early October last year, there have been 15,563 complaints about Flubot alone to date. Only 13 people have reported losing money, to the tune of $10,542, after the malware compromised their bank accounts.

There have been 20 reports of the photo album text scam, which was first reported on October 1.

“It’s very concerning to see these scams evolving and becoming more sophisticated to steal even more money from unsuspecting people,” ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said in a statement.

The ACCC warns applications behind the links are able to “read your text messages send text messages from your phone make phone calls from your number access your contacts Installing the software is likely to give scammers access to your passwords and accounts”.

“They may be able to use this information to steal your money or personal information. It will also ask other infected Australian phones to send Flubot messages to the numbers it steals from your phone, continuing and expanding the scam,” a statement read.

“So, if you called the person that sent you the message, it would be another victim of the scam whose device was infected.”

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Originally published as Why you should never open these text messages