Earlier today, I got a purported Airbnb login code texted to me. I was confused, as I don't even have an Airbnb account.

[Airbnb] Use code [redacted] to confirm your new login. Don't share this code. Airbnb won't call to ask for it.

The code was sent from the phone number (641) 742-8227 - 621 is the area code for the central part of Iowa.

I searched for it, and found several results calling it a scam. Most are on Facebook, but here is one on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/airbnb_hosts/comments/1mf0b78/scam_warning_for_airbnb_hosts_phone_call_phishing/

(here is the Facebook one I screenshotted: https://www.facebook.com/groups/professionalhosts/posts/24361778560158840/)

I have no idea why they targeted me. I checked, and I didn't get any phone call from them. I am not and have never been an Airbnb host. I have had this number since mid-2023, and I have never associated it with an Airbnb account (I don't even have one).

Sadly, they didn't send me a malicious link, so there isn't anything I can do :(

Scammers: send the malicious phone numbers to the malicious phone number people, and send the malicious links to me.

I almost never get scam text messages. I checked, and I think my last one was over a year ago :(
I even got a pig butchering scam once, but blew it by screwing with the scammer rather than pretending to fall for it.

#AirBNB #Scam #SMSishing

Watch out for the latest #clickterbation scheme out there by RNC.ru

Lotsah #smsishing & #clicktoscam's making the rounds

#infosec

Don’t fall for texts from bad guys. They are normally pretty obvious. But this one wasn’t a split decision for me.

When in doubt, an easy way to vet messages is to see what company the number is registered to. Whitepages.com is helpful.

Onvoy is a notoriously bad company and is in hot water with the FTC. No real person is going to text you from Onvoy it’s a service used by companies, often bad actors.

If the text was from a real person it’d be from a company you are familiar with. Could still be dangerous, though…

#SMSishing #phishing #pigbutchering #scam #fightback #spam #opsec

Has anyone been able to determine if iPhone sends read receipts to unknown contacts using #RCS?

I’ve had this question for a while and disabled read receipts globally (manually enabled for special contacts) because I don’t want bad actors RCSing me and getting a read receipt.

#OpSec #SMSishing #RCSishing #iMessage #iOS18 #iPhone #ZeroTrust

Aw yeah, I just reported another SMSishing attempt to a registrar. This one is based in Berlin, Germany.

I imagine they'll live up to the German stereotype for efficiency. Let's find out!

#CyberCrime
#FightBack
#spam
#phishing
#SMSishing