{"id":1923441,"date":"2026-05-07T14:49:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T11:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1923441"},"modified":"2026-05-07T14:49:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T11:49:02","slug":"police-arrest-sms-blaster-crew-that-sent-malicious-messages-to-thousands-across-toronto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1923441","title":{"rendered":"Police arrest SMS blaster crew that sent malicious messages to thousands across Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/sms-blaster.jpg?resize=1200,939&#8243;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-content wp-block-post-content is-layout-constrained wp-block-post-content-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p id=\"speakable-summary\" class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Police have arrested and brought 44 charges against three men for allegedly operating an SMS blaster in downtown Toronto. The scheme, which began in November 2025, is the \u201cfirst known instance\u201d of an SMS blaster operating in Canada, according to the police report.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement, the Toronto Police Service said it believes tens of thousands of devices were blasted with spammy text messages over several months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SMS blasters work by spoofing cell towers and broadcasting a stronger signal than other towers in range in order to trick nearby cell phones and tablets into connecting with the blaster. Once connected to nearby devices, an SMS blaster can send out thousands of text messages, which may contain links to phishing sites that impersonate login pages of legitimate businesses. Such devices exploit security weaknesses in older 2G cellular networks to send these messages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The scheme aimed to steal people\u2019s usernames and passwords, including banking credentials, said Lindsay Riddell, a Detective Sergeant with the Toronto Police, in a press conference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The police said such devices disrupt nearby cellular communications and interfere with 911 emergency services.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The police have released a photo of a similar SMS blaster found in the United Kingdom during an earlier investigation (pictured above), but declined to share a photo of the blaster found in Toronto, citing safety reasons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Authorities said the SMS blaster was \u201cuniquely built,\u201d and was operated from the back of a vehicle, allowing the device to be used in multiple locations across Toronto.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-techcrunch-inline-cta\">\n<div class=\"inline-cta__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"inline-cta__flag\">Techcrunch event<\/div>\n<div class=\"inline-cta__content\">\n<div class=\"inline-cta__header-container\">\n<div class=\"inline-cta__header-container-desktop\">\n<h3 class=\"inline-cta__header has-h-5-font-size\">This Week Only: Buy one pass, get the second at 50% off<\/h3>\n<h4 class=\"inline-cta__subheader\">Your next round. Your next hire. Your next breakout opportunity. Find it at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, where 10,000+ founders, investors, and tech leaders gather for three days of 250+ tactical sessions, powerful introductions, and market-defining innovation. Register before May 8 to bring a +1 at half the cost.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inline-cta__header-container-mobile\">\n<h3 class=\"inline-cta__header has-h-5-font-size\">This Week Only: Buy one pass, get the second at 50% off<\/h3>\n<h4 class=\"inline-cta__subheader\">Your next round. Your next hire. Your next breakout opportunity. Find it at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, where 10,000+ founders, investors, and tech leaders gather for three days of 250+ tactical sessions, powerful introductions, and market-defining innovation. Register before May 8 to bring a +1 at half the cost.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inline-cta__event-info\"><span class=\"inline-cta__location\">San Francisco, CA<\/span><span class=\"inline-cta__separator\">|<\/span><span class=\"inline-cta__date\">October 13-15, 2026<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"inline-cta__register-button\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\">REGISTER NOW<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2024, police in Thailand arrested gang members for running a similar SMS blaster out of the back of a truck in  Bangkok. The gang members reportedly blasted close to a million text messages over a three-day period.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Users can block attempts by SMS blasters by switching off their phones\u2019 2G cellular connectivity. Users of Apple devices can turn on Lockdown Mode to switch off their 2G radios.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/05\/07\/police-arrest-sms-blaster-crew-that-sent-malicious-messages-to-thousands-across-toronto\/&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/sms-blaster.jpg?resize=1200,939&#8243;] Police have arrested and brought 44 charges against three men for allegedly operating an SMS blaster in downtown Toronto. The scheme, which began in November 2025, is the \u201cfirst known instance\u201d of an SMS blaster operating in Canada, according to the police report. In a statement, the Toronto Police Service said it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,62],"class_list":["post-1923441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-techcrunch-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1923441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1923441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1923441\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1923441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1923441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1923441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}