CNN-IBN SPECIAL INVESTIGATION
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Beware of fake SMSes
Published on Fri, Jul 07, 2006 at 20:10, Updated on Mon, Jul 17, 2006 at 10:26 in India section
Tags: Special Investigation, Fake SMS , Ahmedabad
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Ahmedabad: OBC reservation is off.
This is an SMS from Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh's mobile number exclusively to CNN-IBN. But the minister never sent it, he actually knows nothing about it.
We have heard of websites and e-mail accounts being hacked. Now, someone could be sending messages from your cell phone and you'd never know. What seems like a harmless prank could actually be a serious national security threat.
Patanjal Digantvyas, a 19-year-old from Ahmedabad, tells us that all you have to do is go to a website that provides bulk SMS facility. One such site is communicator.clickatell.com
Digantvyas says most sites are paid, but Clickatell gives free demos.
Registration on the site is free. You just need one valid mobile number in India to receive your login code. A click on the 'messaging' link and you can enter the sender's and receiver's phone numbers.
And no verification is required. So, anyone can send messages in your name. The absence of any kind of verification makes this a threat to national security.
One doesn't even need a computer for this. You could send an email from your phone to the website. And whose phone balance decreases in the process? Nobody's.
The sender never knows a message was sent using his number. So is there a way to trace these fake messages?
"In some mobiles, you do get the message centre number. From that the higher authorities must have a way to trace it," Digantvyas said.
But police say they've never received a case like this.
"We've never received an official complaint but we've heard that such messages are doing the rounds lately," Deputy IG of Police (CID-Crime), Gandhinagar, Anil Pratham said.
But even if the number can be traced, the real sender could create havoc and get away. For instance, one could cause panic by spreading a rumour about a bomb in a crowded market.
Or one could cause communal tension by sending hate messages between people of different communities. There is more misuse than use.
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