Strange text message - is it a scam

judygarland

I have received a text message which says 1 new message. When I click on it it is taking me to download something off the internet. I've put the details into the web browser and it says "do you want to download this programme". This is the first bit of it!

http://w03.wrx1.net/app/v2/FvPHxEdg/nYkkjkiiiehhhjMutoYckegik/

I click straight out of both the link on my phone and on the internet.

Is this a known scam going round at the moment. I blame putting my details on Monster.com 6 months ago when I was looking for a job. Won't be doing that again!

renegade

I would just delete it and forget it not worth worrying about.

marleyboy

Ive had these a few times, I genally put it down to having my bluetooth activaed, sometimes I get an image request for download, but just delete them.

uktim29

http://w03.wrx1.net

Just that as a domain and sub-domain looks dodgy.

The url you posted looks almost like your average phishing link you'd get in an email.

fwor

This is probably a WAP Push message - I got quite a few of them recently.

As far as I can tell, it's a scam which tries to get you to connect your phone to their WAP-based website. If you do so, you get charged an extortionate amount all the time that you are connected, and only discover this when your next bill arrives (or your credit vanishes if you are on PAYG).

Fortunately, most older phones don't seem to work as the scammers would like - mine didn't automatically connect to the website, so it failed.

I complained to my phone company - giving details of the content - and immediately stopped receiving them. As I understand it, they find valid phone numbers by trying all numbers in numbering ranges known to be used by specific network operators.

rogue_element

I don't see how a link like that could get your phone to dial a premium rate WAP connection without first downloading a new profile to your phone. Newer phones don't use GSM WAP anymore, so I think that with the advent of GPRS this actually doesn't work anymore... how does it make money? I suppose a program could dial a premium rate number, but surely you have to confirm this first and who allows their phone to dial a number they don't know??

fwor

You may be right.

I did some research and it seemed (at the time, a few months ago) that a certain generation of phones - not current, but not as old as mine! - came pre-loaded with a profile that would simply connect via WAP without asking the user to confirm. So perhaps they are aiming to make their scam cash from that diminishing population of old "WAP-enabled" phones?

Then again, perhaps I'm just propagating an Urban Legend, and should have checked more diligently on snopes.com...

If you have a definitive answer, please let me know!

pinkshoes

I just got one of these too from w03.wrx1.net, but deleted it.

It's something to do with getting you to sign up for a £9/week logo service, so DO NOT click on the link, just delete it.

http://www.wirelessforums.org/uk-telecom-mobile/strange-phone-message-30064.html