←back to thread

USPS text scammers duped his wife, so he hacked their operation

(blog.smithsecurity.biz)
460 points wglb | 3 comments | 08 Aug 24 23:00 UTC | HN request time: 0.488s | source
Show context
prmoustache ◴[09 Aug 24 11:47 UTC] No.41200920[source]▶
we need a new phone/text messaging infrastructure that prevent number spoofing AND force operators to filter out scams attempts.
replies(5): >>41201031 #>>41201400 #>>41201842 #>>41201969 #>>41203375 #
gs17 ◴[09 Aug 24 16:37 UTC] No.41203375[source]▶
> AND force operators to filter out scams attempts.

How do you expect that to be implemented without requiring them to read everyone's texts (requiring either no encryption or a backdoor) and judge their worthiness?

replies(2): >>41204044 #>>41204521 #
1. prmoustache ◴[09 Aug 24 18:05 UTC] No.41204044[source]▶
If you have a mecanism that allow users to report scammers you could automatically ban callers/senders that are reported by a sufficiently large number of persons very quickly.
replies(2): >>41206049 #>>41207998 #
2. jpc0 ◴[09 Aug 24 22:57 UTC] No.41206049[source]▶
This works great for e-mail...

Actually...

Doesn't it now take a significant amount of effort to get a valid company e-mail whitelisted by the incumbents exactly because of this and yet I have received multiple emails today about diplomatic correspondence...

3. obrix ◴[10 Aug 24 07:50 UTC] No.41207998[source]▶
... and create a new opportunity to do a denial-of-service attack on any person by reporting her phone number as a source of unwanted calls. If the reporting happens via a web page this DOS attack can be automated and sold as a service.