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BlueSkimming
August 06, 2007
From the "slightly over-the-top" department, comes this BBC Three exposition on how hackers can scam mobile phones over Bluetooth. They connect to "vulnerable" phones (incorrectly positioned in the item as "any phone with Bluetooth turned on") and they get the phone to dial a premium rate number they own. Good scam, and well described for the most part.
My only gripe is the things they do not cover:
- Not all phones with Bluetooth would let you dial out
- Not all phones with Bluetooth would let any external connection access the dial function without either a) asking permission via the UI and / or b) pairing first
- Anyone who finds themselves scammed this way will of course get their funds refunded when they report the Premium Rate scam to the authorities and their mobile company; the scam-boys can of course be caught this way (it's getting harder and harder to create scam premium rate gigs, at least in Ireland and the UK it is)
These are minor gripes though. If their item was accurate, they managed to scam STG 500 in a relatively short amount time. Serious enough.
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