Sydney, February 26: A new and alarming wave of SMS scams is targeting Australians, with the National Australia Bank (NAB) issuing a stark warning about "pop-up" text messages that lock phone screens and impersonate bank communications. In its warning against the "pop-up SMS scam", the bank highlighted that the messages disable users' phones until they dismiss or save the text, making the scam harder to report as the texts don’t automatically save to an inbox.

As per the DailyMail, Laura Hartley, Head of Security Culture and Advisory at NAB, pointed out that the transnational, organised criminals linked to drug and arms trafficking have highjacked the system and are using the "pop-up message" technology for duping people. She emphasised that the goal of these scammers is to trick individuals into calling the fraudulent numbers, thereby gaining access to sensitive information such as account logins and PIN codes or even persuading them to make payments. What Is Fake Accounting Scam? Know How To Stay Safe as Mumbai-Based Chartered Accountant Loses INR 1.64 Crore to Jodhpur Youth in Financial Scam.

What Is Pop-Up SMS Scam?

A pop-up SMS scam, officially known as a 'flash' or 'class 0 SMS', is a text message that appears directly on a phone screen, even when it is locked. The phone remains unusable until the message is dismissed or saved, and since the message doesn't automatically save to the phone's SMS inbox, it makes these scams harder to report and a powerful tool for criminals. What is a Work-From-Home Scam? Know How to Spot and Avoid This Remote Job Fraud?

This kind of pop-up SMS is often used legitimately by governments overseas to share urgent messages, such as safety warnings for natural disasters. However, NAB has warned that criminals are now using this technology to trick people into believing they are receiving important messages from their bank.

NAB's warning comes as part of its ongoing efforts to combat impersonation scams. The bank's data shows a significant reduction in losses from these scams, with a 65% decrease between 2023 and 2024. Reports of bank impersonation scams have also decreased by 45% in the same period.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 26, 2025 03:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).