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Chinese Gangs Made $1B from Text Scams Targeting Americans

The Department of Homeland Security says Chinese criminal gangs made more than $1 billion from text scams sent to US phone numbers recently, using phony messages linked to sham government websites.
SIM farms operate with at least 200 SIM boxes across 38 U.S. farms in cities like Houston and Los Angeles, while criminals sell Lighthouse SMS phishing kits on Telegram.
Scam texts impersonate U.S. toll operators, postal services, and fines to steal card details, then prompt victims for one-time passwords to add cards to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet; gig workers in the U.S. buy resellable items shipped to China.
Officials across states tracked roughly 330,000 toll scam messages last month, urging residents to ignore texts and file complaints with the FTC and FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center.
A Pew Research study this year found 61% of mobile users in the U.S. get scam texts weekly, many victims are elderly, and the National Cybersecurity Alliance advises against responding or sharing payment details.

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