5 men were arrested on suspicion of using an intelligence device to retrieve phone numbers. The victims then received fake health insurance text messages inviting them to go to a fraudulent site to recover their private data.
SMS scams have multiplied in recent months. One of the biggest scams concerns Health Insurance with nearly 424,000 messages sent to victims. Franceinfo tells us, according to its judicial source, that 5 men were indicted on Thursday February 16 in Île-de-France for fraud in an organized gang.
The suspects used an intelligence service device to retrieve the phone number of targeted people.
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What technology was used by the suspects?
To retrieve the phone number of people targeted by the scam text messages, the 5 suspected men used an intelligence services surveillance device. A “ IMSI catcher » which intercepts mobile exchanges by becoming the border relay antenna. This technology makes it possible to steal the telephone numbers of motorists in the vicinity.
It is then of a roadside check that the police discovered this device in a car driven by a woman. After an investigation by gendarmes specializing in cybersecurity and the Paris judicial police, the 5 suspects were arrested in Noisy-le-Sec in the 93.
Judicial information was opened on Thursday February 16 for “ fraudulent introduction and extraction of data in an automated data processing system ” or “ unauthorized possession of a technical device intended to capture computer data “. The suspects have been put on trial and three of them were remanded in custody.
What was this SMS scam to Health Insurance?
Hundreds of thousands of fake text messages were sent to the victims. From now on, the investigating judge seeks to know how many people have been duped.
The message referred to a fake Health Insurance site where Internet users were invited to enter information very sensitive. We are talking about elements that can do damage in the wrong hands, such as the social security number or bank details.
