New ‘Smishing’ Attacks Impersonating Sagawa Express, Target Smart-Phone Users

Police are maintaining vigilance to thwart 'smishing' referring to 'SMS phishing' campaigns wherein the fraudsters introduce themselves as Sagawa Express Co. a parcel delivery enterprise. The latest cyber-crime relates to sending short text missives actually misguiding smart-phone users so they would visit phony websites and follow the instruction of dispatching private info through SMS.

According to the police, there's an escalation of smishing attacks parallel to home deliveries that are increasing with the trend of e-commerce.

In July 2018, a man, aged 29 and from Japan's Mie Prefecture, got one text missive supposedly giving a notice of a failed delivery attempt, while providing a URL having the name 'Sagawa' in it. Albeit the man wasn't sure about the order going out from him, still he went into the site where he saw a logo of Sagawa Express. Also, there was an earnest request that he download one application onto his smart-phone. The man found this somewhat strange. So, he tried making a contact with the missive's dispatcher over a telephone number provided in the missive but merely talked to someone who wasn't at all related to Sagawa Express.

Now Sagawa warns that the missives along with their associated websites are false while they aim at getting an application installed which captures credit card details, passwords and IDs. Occasionally, people who loaded the application that's active on Android OS, had to lose control of their smart-phones that furtively sent more smishing missives, so indicated sources knowledgeable about the assaults.

Within certain other occasions, those accessing the phony sites got an instruction to key in their personal information along with phone numbers rather than load the application. Evidently, the fake text missives are of twenty-or-more kinds.

As per ITPA or Information Technology Promotion Agency, during January-June 2018, merely ten consultations came by regarding phony Sagawa Express electronic mails, while hundred-and-ten within July alone. A warning by the agency suggests the public that they shouldn't go to suspicious websites alternatively load applications on their smart-phones coming from unknown sources. Furthermore, those who've loaded such applications must erase them after setting the airplane mode to their devices, the agency advises.

» SPAMfighter News - 8/24/2018