What is SMS pumping fraud?
Posted: Wed May 21, 2025 6:53 am
SMS pumping fraud, also known as Artificially Inflated Traffic (AIT) or International Revenue Share Fraud (IRSF), is a type of telecom fraud where cybercriminals exploit businesses' SMS-based services to generate large volumes of messages, ultimately inflating charges for those messages. The fraudsters then profit from a share of these inflated revenues, often in collusion with rogue telecom providers or intermediaries.
The key characteristic of SMS pumping fraud is that the uae number database fraudsters are not trying to gain access to a user's account or steal their identity (like in SIM swap fraud). Instead, their primary goal is to monetize the sending of SMS messages by making businesses pay for traffic to numbers that are controlled by the fraudsters or their accomplices.
How SMS Pumping Fraud Works:
The scheme typically involves several steps:
Vulnerability Exploitation: Fraudsters target web forms or mobile app endpoints that automatically trigger an SMS message in response to a user action. Common examples include:
One-Time Password (OTP) requests (e.g., for login, registration, password reset)
Account creation / sign-up forms that require phone verification
"Send app download link" features
Promotional offer requests (e.g., "Text us for a discount code")
Automated Requests: The attackers use bots or automated scripts to submit a high volume of requests to these vulnerable endpoints. Instead of legitimate user numbers, they input phone numbers that they control. These numbers are often:
Acquired through SIM farms or illicit means.
Concentrated in specific, often high-cost, international regions (premium rate numbers).
Sequential or have similar prefixes, making them easier to generate in bulk.
Inflated SMS Traffic Generation: Each fraudulent request triggers your business's system to send an SMS message to one of the numbers controlled by the fraudster. Because these requests are automated and sent in massive volumes, your business quickly racks up significant charges from your SMS service provider.
Revenue Sharing with Rogue Carriers: The core of the fraud lies in the telecommunications routing chain. SMS messages pass through multiple carriers and aggregators. The fraudsters collude with a "rogue" telecom provider or intermediary. This rogue party:
Receives the inflated SMS traffic.
May or may not actually deliver the messages to the endpoint numbers (often they don't, to save on their own costs).
Collects a share of the revenue that your SMS provider pays for message termination in that high-cost region. The fraudster then gets a kickback or a share of this revenue.
The key characteristic of SMS pumping fraud is that the uae number database fraudsters are not trying to gain access to a user's account or steal their identity (like in SIM swap fraud). Instead, their primary goal is to monetize the sending of SMS messages by making businesses pay for traffic to numbers that are controlled by the fraudsters or their accomplices.
How SMS Pumping Fraud Works:
The scheme typically involves several steps:
Vulnerability Exploitation: Fraudsters target web forms or mobile app endpoints that automatically trigger an SMS message in response to a user action. Common examples include:
One-Time Password (OTP) requests (e.g., for login, registration, password reset)
Account creation / sign-up forms that require phone verification
"Send app download link" features
Promotional offer requests (e.g., "Text us for a discount code")
Automated Requests: The attackers use bots or automated scripts to submit a high volume of requests to these vulnerable endpoints. Instead of legitimate user numbers, they input phone numbers that they control. These numbers are often:
Acquired through SIM farms or illicit means.
Concentrated in specific, often high-cost, international regions (premium rate numbers).
Sequential or have similar prefixes, making them easier to generate in bulk.
Inflated SMS Traffic Generation: Each fraudulent request triggers your business's system to send an SMS message to one of the numbers controlled by the fraudster. Because these requests are automated and sent in massive volumes, your business quickly racks up significant charges from your SMS service provider.
Revenue Sharing with Rogue Carriers: The core of the fraud lies in the telecommunications routing chain. SMS messages pass through multiple carriers and aggregators. The fraudsters collude with a "rogue" telecom provider or intermediary. This rogue party:
Receives the inflated SMS traffic.
May or may not actually deliver the messages to the endpoint numbers (often they don't, to save on their own costs).
Collects a share of the revenue that your SMS provider pays for message termination in that high-cost region. The fraudster then gets a kickback or a share of this revenue.