The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, or TRAI, has recently announced that every mobile phone user in India will only receive whitelisted links via SMS, any unapproved web links via SMS will be automatically blocked. The deadline for the implementation has been extended by one from the telecom regulators, meaning that, from October 1 onwards, if you receive any SMS, it will be a whitelisted one which is approved by the TRAI.
The Unknown Links
Remember the text messages we receive including links that asking us to click on the link to avail of some investment offer or some reward? We have repeatedly been asked by the authorities not to click on these links containing malicious elements. Clicking on them might take you to some external link or make you download a file that can corrupt your device, leading you to lose your money and breach of privacy.
Scammers send these phishing links to people who might not be tech-savvy and are gullible making them the easy targets for these illicit activities. Most of these are click baits, created such a way so that the receiver is easily provoked to click on them, maybe hoping to invest in some new investment plan or seek loans at a lower rate.
Suppose you have received a text message containing a link which says that you are now eligible to receive a 35 per cent guaranteed return on a new investment plan. Now, if you click on this link, it will definitely take you to a malicious element that will help the hacker to get access to your data.
The new step taken by TRAI will make sure to put an end to this problem to some extent once the practice comes into force.
SMS Fraud
SMS frauds have been in the game for a long time now, making it one of the most favourite ways for scammers. In this type of fraud, someone claiming to know your family will call you, asking for your bank details so that they can send money to you. You then receive a message saying that the money has been received, even though no amount was remitted. After some time, the same person will call you again saying that some extra amount has been sent to you and will ask you to send the excess amount back to them, using a link sent by SMS.
Starting from October 1, 2024, all links sent by SMS will be whitelisted, and fraud links will be deemed blacklisted.
