Risky Bulletin Newsletter
July 21, 2025
Risky Bulletin: SMS blasting incidents are rising
Presented by

News Editor
The number of public SMS blasting incidents has slowly increased over the past year, in a clear sign of a rising problem.
SMS blasters are devices that mimic a mobile base station to trick nearby phones into connecting to them. They are a variation of IMSI catchers (aka cell-site simulators, fake base stations, or stingrays), but instead of intercepting mobile traffic to snoop on a target and track their location, SMS blasters are designed to automatically send SMS messages to all users trapped in the fake base station's coverage.
The devices have been used to mass-spam mobile devices over the past decade, typically at organized events, such as concerts, political rallies, or other mass gatherings, and for silly marketing purposes.