SMS phishing is fraud delivered by text message to trick a person into taking a harmful action, such as opening a malicious link, sending money, or sharing credentials. It is a form of social engineering that uses the phone’s immediacy and trust to create pressure before the recipient can verify the request.
This matters because texts often feel personal and urgent, especially when they mimic delivery alerts, fines, account warnings, or other official notices. In real attacks, the message usually includes a link to a fake site or a prompt to reply with sensitive data. Defenders reduce risk by training users to pause on unexpected requests, checking the sender through an official channel, and filtering suspicious URLs and message patterns. The key defense is verification: never act on a text alone when money, identity, or access is involved.