A search warrant carried out on Friday, August 23, resulted in the arrest of a 19-year-old man and the seizure of a smishing device.

The device is an SMS Blaster, a false cell tower that tricks nearby mobile devices into connecting to a fraudulent network.

More than 120 people were affected by the sophisticated scam, which sent 700-plus text messages in one night, Police said.

“Cyber-enabled scams are becoming increasingly prevalent, with unscrupulous fraudsters stopping at nothing in their attempts to swindle innocent people out of their hard-earned money,” national organised crime group director Detective Superintendent Greg Williams said.

Smishing, a form of phishing, involves the SMS Blaster sending fraudulent text messages purporting to be from banks to trick people into sharing or verifying sensitive information such as passwords or credit card details.

“The text claimed the recipient’s bank account was being checked for fraudulent funds and urged them to click a verification link,” Williams said.

After clicking the link, recipients were directed to phishing sites imitating official bank websites, where they entered their customer ID and password.

“NZ Police recognise the life-changing impact of financial crime and will continue to work closely with partner agencies and private industries to keep New Zealanders safe.”

The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) digital messaging and systems team were alerted to the scam via the 7726 public reporting system in late July.

The operation was a great example of government and industry working in fast-paced unison to achieve a single goal, protecting New Zealanders, DIA manager digital messaging Joe Teo said.

“We will continue to work closely with our domestic and international partners to combat the spread of harmful SMS messages.”

Police and DIA were supported by government agencies, the banking and mobile phone sectors, and Australian Federal Police-led Joint Policing Cybercrime Co-ordination Centre.

ANZ New Zealand head of customer protection Alan Thomsen said the bank continued to monitor all customer transactional activity in real time to minimise risk and loss to its customers.

“This smishing scam is the latest version that has been around for several years and sadly, won’t be the last.”

“ANZ will never send our customers text messages asking them to click on a link to log into internet banking or provide their customer information.”

“If you receive a scam SMS text message, please report it free of charge by forwarding the message to 7726 and following the prompts.”

Telecommunications Forum CEO Paul Brislen said the speed of the response was good news for consumers.

“By working closely with banking and law enforcement, we were able to identify and react quickly to this new threat, potentially saving thousands of customers from fraudulent activity.”

ASB executive general manager for technology and operations David Bullock said the nature of the scam showed how important cross-sector collaboration was to keep New Zealanders safe.

“No one industry can solve the problem of scams working alone.”

“We remind New Zealanders to exercise caution, not click on links in text messages or provide personal information, log-in details or transfer any money after receiving a cold call or text message.”

“If you think your account has been compromised, call your bank as soon as possible on its publicly listed phone number.”

The arrested man has been charged with interfering with a computer system and is due to reappear in the Auckland District Court on December 10.

– SunLive