Police have arrested three men and charged them with 44 charges for allegedly operating an SMS blaster in downtown Toronto. The scheme will begin in November 2025 and will be the “first known instance” of an SMS blaster being activated in Canada, according to a police report.
Toronto police said in a statement that they believe the spam-like text messages were sent to tens of thousands of devices over several months.
SMS Blaster works by spoofing a cell phone tower and broadcasting a stronger signal than other base stations within range in order to trick nearby phones and tablets into connecting to the blaster. Once connected to a nearby device, SMS Blaster can send thousands of text messages. The text message may contain a link to a phishing site that masquerades as a legitimate company's login page. Such devices exploit security weaknesses in older 2G cellular networks to send these messages.
Toronto Police Sergeant Lindsey Liddell said in a press conference that the scheme was aimed at stealing usernames and passwords, including bank account information.
Police said such devices interfere with nearby cell phone communications and interfere with 911 emergency services.
Police released a photo (pictured above) of a similar SMS blaster found in the UK during an earlier investigation, but declined to share a photo of the blaster found in Toronto, citing safety reasons.
Officials said the SMS blaster is “uniquely built” and can be operated from the rear of a vehicle, allowing it to be used at multiple locations across Toronto.
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In 2024, Thai police arrested a gang member in Bangkok for firing a similar SMS blaster from the back of a truck. Gang members reportedly sent nearly 1 million text messages in three days.
Users can block SMS blaster attacks by turning off their phone's 2G cellular connection. Apple device users can turn on lockdown mode and turn off the 2G radio.
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