Smartphone is new target for scam. Photo credit: Flickr

Cybercriminals are dusting off their old tricks to target new smartphone users, the BBC reported today.

Cyber security companies have noticed a rise in computer viruses known as “dialers”, an old scam popular in the days of the dial-up modem. Diallers automatically send out messages and dial premium rate calls, leaving the victims with huge phone bills. Back in the day, the diallers lurked on porn sites, and they targeted a victim when they disconnected the modem. The money spent on the international call would be shared with the cybercriminals, BBC reported. Some diallers were so sneaky, they even muted the modem, making it hard for victims to know when the long-distance call was being placed.

The security wing of software company CA said it has seen a rise in diallers for smartphones lately; instead of placing international calls, the malware places premium rate calls and SMS and leaves the victims with the bill, BBC said. Similar to its ancestors, most of the malware is related to pornographic message centers.

Mikko Hypponen, head of research at F-Secure, a company that makes security software for mobile phones, told the BBC, “PC malware can’t just directly steal money from your machine; it has to jump through hoops, like keylogging your credit card number or sending spam… However, mobile malware can just instantly steal from you by making premium-rate calls or messages.” He added that there are huge difficulties in detecting the “fake” premium numbers from the real ones.