Why have a Verified SMS Sender ID?
A sender ID is a customized (or verified) name of who is sending a message to your phone. For example, it could be a phone number or shortcode. It can also be a limited number of characters/Alphanumeric sender IDs, eg, TERMII20.
Sender IDs represent the brand name a recipient of an SMS/text will see displayed when they receive a message and is mostly used as a single-way communication with your customers.
The importance of sender ID verification
One major reason to consider using a verified sender ID to send out your messages is to wade off potential scammers or hackers from using your brand or company name to send out messages to people without your knowledge or consent.
An unverified sender ID or ‘Spoofed’ Sender ID (Spoofing occurs when a hacker or scammer uses the custom name of a well-known brand or company to send SMS messages to people) puts your identity/brand/or company at the risk of being used to defraud or scam unsuspecting people. This can be achieved in the following ways highlighted below:
1. Social hacking: Describes the act of attempting to manipulate outcomes of social behavior through orchestrated actions. The general function of social hacking is to gain access to restricted information or to a physical space without proper permission (Wikipedia). Scammers pose as popular social media websites, linking users to a fake login page in a bid to extract login details. Once these details are obtained, the hackers can then go on to use real social media accounts to further access a person’s digital life and financial information
2. SMS malware: Is a type of malware that manipulates devices to send and intercept text messages resulting in SMS charges. The user is usually not aware of the activity (Wandera). Here, links are sent as messages to mobile devices, which will trigger a download of malware that is installed on the device.
3. SMS phishing or smishing is a form of criminal activity using social engineering techniques. Phishing is the act of attempting to acquire personal information such as passwords and details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication (Wikipedia). For example, a scammer posing as a bank to send messages with a link to a fake banking website requesting that users log in with their passwords.
Asides these attacks, an unverified sender ID also be damaging to brand or business’ reputation as spam messages and abusive content can be sent in their names to unsuspecting mobile users. These attacks become easier with an unverified or spoofed sender ID. And not only is this subjected to well-known brands but small business owners as well.
As with SMS Sender ID registrations, short-codes (and long codes) for two-way SMS have to be checked and verified across the entire messaging value chain — all the way to specific mobile network operators, within specific countries. Because the attacks mentioned above don’t necessarily require a link to a spoofed or unverified website, with two-way SMS, scammers can also receive responses from users.
The global SMS messaging ecosystem is not the same, because rules and laws have developed over the years to keep pace with technology and regulations vary by country. Thus, the process of appropriately registering a Sender ID or short-code becomes more complex as a business or brand operates in more countries — even if the Sender ID should be the same in every geographical market. Some countries have a lengthy registration process through MNOs (mobile network operators), while others don’t even allow alpha Sender IDs.
According to reports, Messaging fraud costs the world $2bn annually, and since mobile users trust SMS more than any other messaging platform, if the industry does nothing to tackle spoofing, messaging adoption could fizzle out and innovation could be crippled.
Termii as a participant in this industry is striving to provide an exceptional service to businesses and brands sending business-centered messages through our platform. And to this effect, are working coordinately to protect our customers’ brands and their customers from fraud or any illegitimate dealings. Therefore, we are crystal-clear about how we do things as a company and hope the same from our customers.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — To learn more on how you can verify your sender ID on Termii, send us a mail to sales@termii.com or visit www.termii.com
