Nowadays, cyber criminals use SMS the most for cyber fraud and conspire to steal people’s money by sending suspicious links. Government agencies often issue advisories and share tips from time to time to help customers avoid such frauds. Now, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) itself has issued another alert to prevent fraud through SMS. TRAI has explained through a post on X (earlier Twitter) what precautions should be taken to avoid falling into the trap of fraudulent SMS messages. Learn about these precautions and keep your money safe.
TRAI has posted on X that not all messages are genuine, and anyone can send messages that may appear official. As per TRAI rules, only those messages whose header or suffix contains P, -S, -T, or -G are from the government or a legitimate agency and are considered genuine, which means they are not attempts at fraud.
Here’s what P, -S, -T, and -G mean:
P stands for promotional
S means service
T stands for transactional
G stands for Government
TRAI also points out that if you want to verify whether an SMS has come from a legitimate source or not, there is a URL where you can check the authenticity of the sender and verify the 9-character SMS header. The link is smsheader.trai.gov.in, and you can use it to check the suspicious SMS messages yourself.
Cyber criminals use fear or greed in SMS messages
In SMS messages, cybercriminals either try to scare you or lure you with offers, such as claiming that you have won a lottery or a car, or that a parcel containing illegal goods has been delivered to your address, or that your electricity is about to be cut. If customers are alarmed by messages that take advantage of greed or fear, they should first verify the authenticity of the SMS, and TRAI has already provided instructions on how to do so.