Cybercriminal used a ‘Fake Phone Tower Hidden Inside a Suitcase’ to Spam Text Messages to Thousands of Tube Commuters During Rush Hour
By AIDAN RADNEDGE, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
A cybercriminal who used a ‘fake phone tower’ hidden inside a suitcase to blast thousands of spam text messages to commuters during a busy rush hour has been jailed.
Kong Ji Chen, 31, was foiled when an alert commuter received a spam text message while travelling on the Victoria Line at Victoria underground station in London.
The text, which claimed to be from ‘Parcel Mail’, said a parcel had arrived for the recipient but that ‘shipment has been suspended due to [sic] missing house number’.
It then went on to ask recipients to enter their personal details on a fraudulent web link.
A commuter who was familiar with ‘SMS blaster’ technology became suspicious after seeing Chen waiting on the platform on July 1 this year with a large suitcase, and not boarding any trains. The witness then informed police.
When questioned, Chen claimed he was waiting for a friend and had been given the suitcase earlier in the day by another man.
Bodycam video of the moment he was arrested shows officers checking inside the suitcase to find a portable battery attached to an electrical unit with a green flashing light and black antenna.
After handcuffing Chen, the arresting officer told him: ‘The time is 18.34, you’re currently under arrest on suspicion of fraud.’
A cybercriminal who used a fake phone tower hidden inside a suitcase to blast thousands of spam text messages to commuters during a busy rush hour has been jailed
Kong Ji Chen, 31, was foiled when an alert commuter received a spam text message while travelling on the Victoria Line at Victoria underground station in London
After taking him to custody, the officer noticed he had also received a copy of the spam text message on his own phone.
At court, Chen pleaded guilty to one count of possessing or controlling an article for use in fraud.
A technical security adviser reported that there were 165 reports to mobile phone carriers of the same spam text message coming from the same number on July 1.
He was sentenced to 24 weeks in prison at Inner London Crown Court on Wednesday this week.
Investigating officer DC Adrienne Curzon, from British Transport Police, said afterwards: ‘I’m very pleased with the result in this case. Chen targeted potentially thousands of commuters, attempting to harvest their data.
‘The conviction was achieved thanks to the close work our officers undertook with mobile network operators including BT, Virgin Media O2 and Vodafone as well as the National Cyber Security Centre and Ofcom.
‘Thanks to the vigilance of one member of the public, our officers were able to act and prevent more people from being targeted and becoming victims of Chen’s fraudulent endeavour.
‘We rely on members of the public to report anything they see that they feel might be suspicious.
This was one of the spam texts that Kong Ji Chen sent to London Underground commuters
British Transport Police have released footage of his arrest, following his sentencing
Bodycam video of the moment he was arrested shows officers checking inside a suitcase to find a portable battery attached to an electrical unit with a flashing light and black antenna
Chen has been sentenced at Inner London Crown Court to 24 weeks in prison
‘If you see something that doesn’t look right, text us on 61016 and we’ll investigate.’
According to Android’s parent company Google, devices such as SMS blasters – known as ‘cell-site simulators,’ ‘false base stations’, or ‘stingrays’ – mimic real mobile towers to lure phones to connect to them.
The devices are commonly used for security and privacy attacks, as well as in surveillance and communication interception.
SMS blasters trick phones into connecting to a fake unencrypted 2G network and send out texts to all phones in range.
The devices, which can be operated without deep technical expertise, are advertised for sale online for as low as $3,500 (£2,600).
The texts sent are then used for ‘smishing’ scams – a phishing attack over SMS.
As the blaster devices avoid sending texts over the actual phone network, network spam and anti-fraud filters are powerless to stop devices from receiving them.
Those who want to protect themselves from the attacks can disable 2G in their phone settings.
Android users can disable 2G to ensure their phones only connect to 3G, 4G, and 5G networks.
Users with iPhones can put their phones into ‘Lockdown Mode’ to disable 2G – however this will also disable other features such as incoming FaceTime calls.