“[Bpost] Your package is at the sorting center. Click on the link to track your package. “Here is the message contained in a fraudulent SMS that circulated massively in May. If you received it, it means that your phone number is included in a list of data that is circulating on the internet and exploited by cybercriminals.
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And if this is the case, the reception of fake SMS (smishing) should more than likely increase in the coming weeks or months (whether on behalf of another parcel delivery company or your bank for example). It will therefore be necessary to be extra careful. Ideally, never click on a link in an SMS anyway..
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However, it is not impossible that you received this SMS because of an error in judgment from one of your contacts.
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Fact, according to the Center for Cybersecurity, nearly 9,000 Belgians clicked on the link contained in the fake SMS. However, it invited them to download an app. Big mistake because it was about a virus which causes significant damage in a smartphone and which spreads quickly to the telephone contacts of the victim.
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In short, never download an app if it is not expressly from you. However, now might be the time to download the official apps of parcel delivery companies yourself and rely solely on their information. For example, My bpost, MyDPD, etc.
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Prevention
As the Federal Police reminds us, “prevention remains the key to protecting yourself”. So you always have an interest in update the operating system as quickly as possible of the smartphone when it is offered. It allows, among other things, to fill any security gaps.
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“Even on the internet, prevention remains the key to protecting yourself.”
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In order to reduce the risk of infection, it is also more than recommended toinstall an antivirus app. The independent laboratory Av-Test (av-test.org) lists the best software for Android in this regard.
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What about iOS (since Av-Test doesn’t mention it)? The operating system developed by Apple is in principle much less vulnerable to viruses, but it is however not 100% foolproof, especially if you are using a “jailbroken” iPhone, that is to say an iPhone which is jailbroken and which therefore has the option of not limiting itself to the App Store for downloading apps.
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Whether or not this is the case, it never hurts to add an extra layer of protection to an iPhone through an antivirus app.
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Reaction
If you are the victim of a virus or malware that causes chaos on your smartphone, rest assured: there are solutions to get rid of it. The simplest is – again – to download and use an antivirus app. This will more than likely detect the problem and eradicate it.
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If that doesn’t work, there are techniques to manually remove a virus or malware. Especially enabling safe mode on Android. This allows your smartphone to start only using the software and apps that were already present by default and to detect the problem app. If you have to come to this, there are many tutorials online.
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If you have not managed to get rid of it with these few tips, you will need to restore your smartphone to its default settings (hence the importance of regularly making a backup of it).
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Finally, change all your passwords. You can never be too careful!
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