British Duo Arrested For SMS Phishing Via Homemade Cell Tower (theregister.com) 25
British police have arrested two individuals involved in an SMS-based phishing campaign using a unique device police described as a "homemade mobile antenna," "an illegitimate telephone mast," and a "text message blaster." This first-of-its-kind device in the UK was designed to send fraudulent texts impersonating banks and other official organizations, "all while allegedly bypassing network operators' anti-SMS-based phishing, or smishing, defenses," reports The Register. From the report: Thousands of messages were sent using this setup, City of London Police claimed on Friday, with those suspected to be behind the operation misrepresenting themselves as banks "and other official organizations" in their texts. [...] Huayong Xu, 32, of Alton Road in Croydon, was arrested on May 23 and remains the only individual identified by police in this investigation at this stage. He has been charged with possession of articles for use in fraud and will appear at Inner London Crown Court on June 26. The other individual, who wasn't identified and did not have their charges disclosed by police, was arrested on May 9 in Manchester and was bailed. [...]
Without any additional information to go on, it's difficult to make any kind of assumption about what these "text message blaster" devices might be. However, one possibility, judging from the messaging from the police, is that the plod are referring to an IMSI catcher aka a Stingray, which acts as a cellphone tower to communicate with people's handhelds. But those are intended primarily for surveillance. What's more likely is that the suspected UK device is perhaps some kind of SIM bank or collection of phones programmed to spam out shedloads of SMSes at a time.
Without any additional information to go on, it's difficult to make any kind of assumption about what these "text message blaster" devices might be. However, one possibility, judging from the messaging from the police, is that the plod are referring to an IMSI catcher aka a Stingray, which acts as a cellphone tower to communicate with people's handhelds. But those are intended primarily for surveillance. What's more likely is that the suspected UK device is perhaps some kind of SIM bank or collection of phones programmed to spam out shedloads of SMSes at a time.
That classic British name Huayong Xu (Score:2, Funny)
Huayong Xu is a classic ancient Saxon name in Britain, just like John Smith, Steve Jones, Dave West.
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Just to clarify, it's the headline only that makes the claim. The City of London police have not disclosed nationalities. https://www.cityoflondon.polic... [police.uk]
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The City of London police have not disclosed nationalities.
Too bad, now we'll have to guess. Huayong Xu must be Russian, or perhaps Finnish.
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No, but it's relevant to maintaining their world view.
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Thanks for sharing your knowledge! I had been assuming it originated in post-Norman England.
Re:That classic British name Huayong Xu (Score:4, Insightful)
Dude is more British than me. Actually, most Americans love to claim to be English, Irish, Italian, and/or German. When really we're not culturally.
And if we go by ancestry, then we're all Africans.
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And if we go by ancestry, then we're all Africans.
Not my people. We were placed here by the creators and have lived here since time immemorial. This has been passed down in our oral history* and any dispute of those facts may very well be a federal offense.
*Which we reserve the right to change at our convenience. But any challenges to this may also be actionable in your courts.
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Actually, most Americans love to claim to be English, Irish, Italian, and/or German.
IMHO, you forgot Cherokee.
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My family often claimed this. Like my great grandmother "grew up on the reserve", etc.
DNA tests say that side of the family is mostly Scottish, Norwegian, and miscellaneous European.
And nobody in my family remembers when we immigrated here. As that information was never passed down. I'm going to guess my ancestors moved to the US to escape something, like debt or prison, and never talked about it. (best way to keep a secret right)
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Most of your behavior is from your environment. Not from your ancestor's country of origin. It's as silly as zodiac and blood type having any bearing on a person's personality. Because within a population in actual Ireland or actual Germany, there are variations much wider than the stereotypes that Americans believe about those two nationalities.
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The thing about stereotypes is that they became stereotypes because the were more often true than false.
Or from people's prejudices and exaggerated depictions in media. Generally stereotypes are poor at the details and if left vague enough they are almost meaningless. Stereotypes not really that useful or practical to apply in daily life. And as basis for an argument in a rationale discussion, absolutely ridiculous.
As the map shrinks and the world gets smaller, and communication grows more vast, people assimilate into cultures outside of their geography.
A relevant observation for Europeans up to the Roman Empire. I'd say Octavian so around the 1st century BC to 1st century AD is a reasonable point to pick if I had to choose.
For anyone born in the
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Huayong Xu is a classic ancient Saxon name in Britain, just like John Smith, Steve Jones, Dave West.
I thought I had it bookmarked, but there is a video of an Italian woman knockig on the door of a British man's house. When he opens the door she tells him he has to leave because she was there first. Needless to say the man's confused and asks her to repeat what she said (in broken English). She repeats that her people, the Italians, were on the land first so she gets to live in his house.
While this is a joke about Jews claiming all the land from the river to the sea, I don't think Smith, Jones, or West
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I don't think Smith, Jones, or West are classic ancient Italian names.
But Quintus Atrius, Titus Labienus and Gaius Julius are.
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Makes me think of the Stewart Lee comedy sketch regarding immigrants.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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I'd nominate Aethelred, Sweyn Forkbeard and Cnut the Great as genuine British names.
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Huayong Xu is a classic ancient Saxon name in Britain, just like John Smith, Steve Jones, Dave West.
Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. We used to have an empire you know.
It's not unusual for Hong Kong Chinese to be naturalised UK citizens, a lot of them came over when we handed back HK to the Chinese in 1999, a few more even more recently.
Someone's name is the flimsiest reason to question their nationality in modern developed countries.
"City of London" police? (Score:1)
Isn't that "CIty of London" police that little office of five who don't really "police' anything but go after copyright violations they create and then gadfly over?
Does ANYONE other than US news "papers" even bat an eye toward them?
WHY are they still around? Benny Hill is gone, so we don't need cheap-shit entertainment...
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"As of 2021, the force had a workforce of 1,355 including 861 full-time police officers and 494 support staff. The force is also supported by much smaller numbers of special constables, police community support officers, and designated officers"
"maintains a fleet of police vehicles, including SUVs, compact cars, motorcycle, and vans, as well as one horsebox"
Plus they have armed response units.
And mostly they deal with financial fraud and similar crimes, because of the nature of the "City" of London.
Probably not a Stingray... (Score:2)
slight correction (Score:3)
This first-of-its-kind device known in the UK ...
just because it was the first one found doesn't mean it was the first, and only one ever. When you consider that the various LEOs have been using Stingrays for the last couple decades to think that this escapade was really the "first of it's kind" is being either willfully ignorant or just plain stupid.