Fraudsters are taking advantage of the personalized nature of Short Message System (SMS) to unleash pains on users, especially chat apps, a new report has confirmed.

Mobile messaging in all its forms is brilliantly effective due to low technical barrier; highly personal too, as people open texts and app messages faster than other media and responded to them more frequently.

Also, consumers and enterprises know this which is why they have embraced messaging so enthusiastically.

Recall, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) recently launched 2017 Year of the Telecom Consumer, a campaign meant to educate the consumers on how best to stop unsolicited SMS and other consumer related issues

Regrettably are aware of this too, as the new study, part of MEF’s Future of Messaging Programme 2016, published in association with CLX Communications, found that fraudsters have also been quick to adopt these services.

In a survey of 6,000 consumers across nine countries about their experiences of and attitudes towards fraud, spam, SMiShing (SMS phishing), across both SMS and chat apps, it was found that 26 per cent of chat app users get an unsolicited message every day, while 49 per cent receive at least one a week.

The research confirmed that spam still affects SMS more than chat apps, but not by much. More than a quarter of consumers (28 per cent) receive an unsolicited SMS message every day with 58 per cent report receiving one every week. It found that although the SMS channel receives the highest daily occurrence of unsolicited messages, it remains the most trusted.

The majority of those asked said unsolicited mobile messages are mostly just a nuisance – notifying them of an un-wanted offer or service. However 33 per cent said that they had received a SMiShing message aiming to trick them into disclosing personal data such as bank details or passwords for online services.

Speaking on the report obtained by Nigeria CommunicationsWeek, Mt. Robert Gerstmann managing director, CLX communications, said “It’s interesting to note that although the SMS channel receives the highest daily occurrence of unsolicited messages it remains the most trusted. This is likely because the percentage of spam messages is still a tiny fraction at less than one per cent overall. When compared to the nearly 50 per cent on email, SMS is still a clean and powerful channel. It’s extremely surprising that over-the-top messaging apps only lag SMS by two per cent in daily occurrence, yet SMS is by far more ubiquitous and open”.

However, the study observes there’s probably no greater indicator of the success of a communications channel than when the fraudsters arrive.

“Think about all those spam emails. Criminals wouldn’t bother if email wasn’t so popular. Like email, mobile messaging between companies and people is very popular,” MEF said.

MobileSquared also said the market for ‘application to person’ (A2P) messaging is currently worth around $17 billion.

Credence Research recently predicted enterprises would transmit two trillion messages a year by 2017.

These numbers make SMS an inevitable target for criminals. And now that millions are switching to messaging apps like WhatsApp, the fraudsters are inevitably active there too.

MEF estimates that fraud is costing the ecosystem at least $2 billion a year. Its industry working group identified 11 distinct fraud types and set up the Future of Messaging Programme to raise awareness and take action against all fraud types including the use of grey routes and SIM farms.

“This study shows why industry action is so pressing. It reveals that 28 per cent of SMS users receive an unsolicited text message every day. 58 per cent receive at least one a week. Only 16 per cent have never received one. Within messaging apps, the fraud problem is currently less severe. But it’s still serious: 26 per cent of chat app users receive an unsolicited text message every day, while 49 per cent receive at least one a week.

Carol Benites, member & marketing coordinator – LATAM at Mobile Ecosystem Forum told Nigeria CommunicationsWeek that subsequent sstudy potentially will cover usage habits P2P & A2P including year-on-year trend analysis and spotlight on new technologies, enterprise messaging deep-dive into key verticals, consumer motivations & preferences.