According to the Department of Homeland Security, a criminal organization in China has generated over $1 billion in profit in the last three years by sending fraudulent text messages to Americans. These scam messages typically inform victims of toll or postage violations and ultimately request their credit card details.
The United States is currently grappling with a surge of deceptive texts that have transformed into a lucrative multibillion-dollar operation benefitting criminal networks based in China. These messages often claim that the recipient owes money for various reasons, aiming to trick them into revealing their credit card information.
Previously reported by Breitbart News, DMVs across the country have been alerting the public about these fake text scams.
As online scams grow more complex, the latest phishing attempts are specifically targeting motorists nationwide. DMVs in New York, Florida, and California have reported a rise in deceptive texts employing alarming tactics to extract sensitive information.
These fraudulent texts—often referred to as “Smishing” or SMS phishing—falsely warn recipients about unpaid traffic tickets, threatening dire consequences like extra fines or even suspension of driving privileges. In reality, these messages do not come from authentic government entities and are part of a broader trend where scammers impersonate legitimate organizations to exploit unsuspecting individuals.
Investigators have found that the groups orchestrating these scams utilize stolen credit card information to acquire items like iPhones, gift cards, and apparel. The operation hinges on the criminals uploading compromised card details into Google and Apple wallets in Asia—then sharing that access with individuals in the U.S. to facilitate purchases.
These scams are executed via “SIM farms,” which consist of a room filled with network devices hosting numerous SIM cards—allowing one individual to send an enormous volume of messages that would typically require thousands of phone numbers.
Typically, criminal organizations operate remotely, engaging gig workers to run SIM farms in the United States. These workers, organized through the WeChat app, receive manuals and live assistance. It’s estimated that around 200 SIM boxes are active across at least 38 farms in cities like Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Miami.
When victims receive a fraudulent text and click the link provided, they’re directed to a phishing site where they are prompted to enter their name and credit card or banking info to pay what appears to be a legitimate bill. The criminals use software available on Telegram to track each keystroke the victim makes, facilitating the capture of their sensitive details.
Additionally, scammers find individuals in the U.S. willing to make purchases for them through Telegram channels. They employ about 400 to 500 “mules” daily, compensating them roughly 12 cents for every $100 in gift cards purchased. The scammers use remote tap-to-pay technology to establish a virtual connection between their phones in China and the mules’ devices in the U.S., enabling the mules to buy items with stolen credit cards.
Mules often buy products like clothing or electronics directly, but they frequently acquire gift cards as well to hide their tracks. These cards are later used to obtain goods, which are then sent to China and subsequently sold, with all profits filtering back to organized crime groups.
The situation is escalating, with Americans receiving a staggering 330,000 toll fraud messages each day last month, as reported by Proofpoint, a service that filters mobile spam. The average monthly volume of these fraudulent messages is currently about 3.5 times higher than it was in January 2024.
In a related report, Breitbart News mentioned that the Secret Service dismantled a SIM farm with 100,000 SIM cards and 300 servers in the New York City vicinity. This operation was linked to a swatting attack against high-profile conservatives.
The U.S. Secret Service uncovered a vast network of over 100,000 SIM cards and 300 servers within a 35-mile radius of NYC, believed to be associated with foreign “nation-state threat actors” and criminals. This finding arose during investigations into a spike in hoax emergency calls targeting Congress members and government officials, including those from the Trump administration.
Reported swatting call targets included figures like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Sen. Rick Scott, and Nikki Haley. Collaborating with various law enforcement agencies, the Secret Service’s Advanced Threat Interdiction Unit traced signals linked to these incidents across several locations in the tri-state area. The probes revealed a sophisticated SIM server network capable of generating massive phone traffic while quickly switching SIM cards to evade detection.
