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SMS Phishing

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Smishing Attack Examples

Smishing Attack Examples: Real Texts That Steal Data

The Text Message That Cost One Company $15 Million In 2022, threat actors hit Twilio with an SMS-based social engineering attack that compromised employee credentials and exposed data for over 160 customers. The attack didn't involve a sophisticated zero-day exploit. It started with a text message pretending to

Carl B. Johnson Apr 21, 2026 5 min read
Smishing Attack Examples

Smishing Attack Examples: 7 Real Texts That Steal Data

In March 2025, the FBI's IC3 warned that Americans lost over $470 million to phishing and smishing schemes in the prior reporting year — and text-based attacks were growing faster than any other vector. I've personally triaged incidents where a single SMS message led to a six-figure

Carl B. Johnson Sep 21, 2025 8 min read
Smishing

FBI Warning on Smishing Texts: What You Must Do Now

10,000 Fake Domains and Counting In early 2024, the FBI issued a stark FBI warning on smishing texts targeting Americans in every state. The attack campaign involved over 10,000 newly registered domains impersonating toll collection agencies, delivery services, and government agencies. Victims received text messages claiming they owed

Carl B. Johnson Oct 17, 2024 7 min read
Smishing Attacks

Smishing Attack Examples: Real Texts That Stole Millions

In February 2022, the FBI warned that Americans lost over $68 million to smishing and vishing scams in a single year — and that number only counted what victims actually reported to the FBI's IC3. The real figure is almost certainly multiples higher. I've spent the last

Carl B. Johnson Apr 22, 2022 8 min read
Mobile Phishing Attacks

Mobile Phishing Attacks: Why Your Phone Is Now Target #1

Your Employees' Phones Are the Weakest Link Right Now In September 2021, Lookout reported that mobile phishing attacks had surged 161% since 2020. That's not a typo. The device your employees carry everywhere — the one they check 96 times a day — has become the primary attack surface

Carl B. Johnson Dec 18, 2021 7 min read
Smishing

FBI Warning on Smishing Texts: How to Fight Back

16,000 Complaints and Counting: Why the FBI Is Sounding the Alarm In February 2021, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) began tracking a dramatic spike in smishing — phishing attacks delivered via SMS text messages. The FBI warning on smishing texts wasn't hypothetical. It came

Carl B. Johnson Aug 31, 2021 6 min read