Evidence of High Earnings and Lavish Spending
An evidence room filled with designer shoes and handbags illustrates how profitable text-based fraud has become for criminals who send large volumes of scam messages. Det Ch Insp Paul Curtis, who leads investigations into these offences, says scammers tend to spend money immediately rather than save it. He points to shelves stacked with thousands of confiscated items, including Gucci stilettos and other luxury brands, seized during house searches and raids. Curtis estimates that between 8,500 and 10,000 items are stored in the room, reflecting the earnings of those involved.
How Smishing Works and the Scale of Recent Cases
Smishing combines “SMS” and “phishing” and involves fraudulent text messages sent under the guise of a bank or trusted company to obtain personal information. Criminals use this information to defraud victims by gaining access to accounts or persuading them to transfer money. Curtis is part of the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit, a national team sponsored by the banking industry and staffed by officers from the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police.
Curtis said one recent case involved 15,000 messages sent within five days, generating an income equivalent to £100,000 a month. The defendant, Ruichen Xiong, a student from China, drove around London in March sending messages to tens of thousands of potential victims. He pleaded guilty to fraud by representation and was sentenced in June at Inner London Crown Court to 58 weeks in prison. Ofcom reports that half of UK mobile users received a suspicious message between November 2024 and February 2025.
Impact on Victims and Emotional Toll
Gideon Rabinowitz, 64, from Newbury, Berkshire, fell victim to smishing two months ago and lost more than £1,000. The former IT manager said he felt “violated” after receiving a fraudulent message that appeared to come from his bank. He believed he was confirming a suspicious transaction, but the exchange led to a loss of £1,400 within two and a half hours. Rabinowitz said the experience left him shaken and unsure who to trust, noting that the scammers appeared to know his identity and location.
Tools Used to Send Mass Scam Messages
Scammers primarily use two devices. One is a SIM farm that holds multiple SIM cards and can send thousands of messages rapidly. The other is an SMS blaster, which tricks nearby mobile phones into connecting and then sends large volumes of fraudulent texts in seconds. These tools allow criminals to operate at scale and avoid detection.
Government Measures and Upcoming Ban on SIM Farms
The government said smishing scams cause severe harm to victims and outlined actions under the Telecoms Charter to improve SMS security and reduce fraud. It confirmed plans to ban SIM farms, which are key tools for distributing scam texts. The ban is expected to come into effect late next year and will make possession or supply of SIM farms illegal without a specified reason.
Expert View on Policing and Public Awareness
Ciaran Martin, former Chief Executive of the National Cyber Security Centre, said smishing is difficult to police because many operations originate abroad and domestic cases are easy to conduct and hard to trace. He said policing alone cannot provide a long-term solution. Martin urged the public to remember that legitimate businesses do not request money via text and said companies need to improve how they verify communication with customers.
Police advise the public not to click on links in unsolicited messages and to treat unexpected texts with caution.
Featured image credits: Freepik
For more stories like it, click the +Follow button at the top of this page to follow us.