Phishing Attacks Use This Simple Trick to Defeat iPhone Message Security

[splifingate]

it's from a different number and a different area code

And this is where Block Sender ultimately fails....

 

[Doomtomb]

The best response from users is no response.

 

[Slackula]

“iPhone users hate this one trick…” is the only way this article could be more clickbait. /s

Snark aside… I eliminated this spamming by removing all my personal data from data brokers. It took me an entire Saturday, but I managed to remove my email/phone/address from over 40 online sources and I haven’t gotten a single SMS spam since. Not even during the US election season.

Whoa....Can you elaborate on how one does that? Sounds very effective!

 

[MacFan782040]

It boggles my mind that 15 years into the iPhone we don't have a spam filter in messages.

And why is every single text I've ever sent in my inbox? Howabout a way to archive the message to the cloud but not erase it completely. I don't need 500 conversations on my phone but it would be nice to reference back if I ever need to.

 

[Chungry]

It boggles my mind that 15 years into the iPhone we don't have a spam filter in messages.

And why is every single text I've ever sent in my inbox? Howabout a way to archive the message to the cloud but not erase it completely. I don't need 500 conversations on my phone but it would be nice to reference back if I ever need to.

I think this is an area where I'd be fine for Apple to shamelessly copy Google. Google's messages app is quite effective -however they do it, it is worth copying.

 

[McWetty]

How? This sounds worthwhile.

Start Here.

I manually reached out to every data broker I could find (most opt-outs are easily found on Google). Then I kept “googling myself” until there were no more listings on the usual places (white pages, who is, and the like). Took a long time but I didn’t want to pay for a subscription or service.

 

[McWetty]

I’m dumb and can’t multi quote…

 

[iBug2]

At this point, iMessage seems like a backdoor to the iPhone. Pegasus also used exploits inside iMessage. Just rewrite the whole thing.

 

[svish]

Disappointing to see that scam calls and messages are increasing day by day. Hopefully people take extra precautions and will be good if iOS can better detect spam and notify users accordingly.

 

[JapanApple]

This isn't new. This crap has been happening for a long time. People are naive enough to believe bs messages.

 

[polyphenol]

Some couriers get each individual delivery person to call/send SMS from their own phone. Which, to my mind, is a way of madness.

It would be so much better if all ParcelForce people used the same presentation number, rather than the number change delivery by delivery depending on who is doing the round today.

If it is a phone call (for some companies, maybe they need help to find me), I simply don't answer because it is an unknown number.

BTW - I can't remember the last spam call I got, at least months ago. And only the odd spam SMS. For which I say, thank goodness. Maybe I have dropped to irrelevancy?

 

[acader]

Well, with the message I screenshotted above, it was an iMessage. Most of my text spam is actually iMessage spam, so all the verification is with Apple.

I have seen the USPS messages appear both on my iPhone and Android phone. So I'm assuming that it is unrelated to the device / OS maker. If US govt is mandating the sender authentication, maybe it is up to the carriers to follow through and implement it stringently.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

I have seen the USPS messages appear both on my iPhone and Android phone. So I'm assuming that it is unrelated to the device / OS maker. If US govt is mandating the sender authentication, maybe it is up to the carriers to follow through and implement it stringently.

I know shaken/stir is now legally required for calls. No idea if it applies to sms.

 

[Crowbot]

How about adding a "block this sender" feature. I need this for my parents. They're getting old, and we will too (hopefully). "Filtering" doesn't help because if they need to respond to anything other than their regular contacts (like Dr Appointment confirmations), they're in the filter for the next several weeks without realizing it.
Scams are scams. But how hard is it for Apple to allow blocking of a contact in Messages?

At first I thought you wanted to block your parents.

 

[lanceuppercut47]

Can I just block all SMS from the Philippines?

You can with https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wideprotect-spam-call-blocker/id1171024059 --I've used it for ages now.

 

[drmacnut]

Does anyone here know the if scammers or spammers get utility from an end user automatically sending a "Read Receipt" from iMessage/Messages when a spammy or scammy SMS is received and read?

 

[artifex]

Does anyone here know the if scammers or spammers get utility from an end user automatically sending a "Read Receipt" from iMessage/Messages when a spammy or scammy SMS is received and read?

they'll know it's a live account, and roughly whether you've just been on your device. Ever been looking at a suspicious text and get a call from a scammer? Same with RCS.

 

[MacFan782040]

I think this is an area where I'd be fine for Apple to shamelessly copy Google. Google's messages app is quite effective -however they do it, it is worth copying.

Even Facebook messenger does this better.

Half of the iMessages in my inbox are people who don't need to be a contact in my phone, however I don't want to erase the conversation. So I end up keeping them in this weird middle area, to prevent the embarrassing, "Who's this?" text later on. They HAVE to do better. Just a simple archive without delete - and attach a name to the convo, rather than adding them to your contacts list.