AhnLab announced on the 21st that phishing text messages attempting to steal personal information under the pretext of participating in a survey regarding the 21st presidential election had been discovered, urging user caution.
According to AhnLab, the attacker impersonated a domestic public enterprise and sent messages stating "prizes will be provided for participating in the presidential survey," prompting recipients to click on a URL included in the message. This URL led to a fake page designed to resemble an actual survey, which requested personal information such as names and contact details under the pretense of providing prizes after completing the survey, but it did not include any formal consent procedures.
The attacker attempted to lower user vigilance by inserting pictures of famous celebrities on the survey page, and the survey included election-related questions such as "voting plans" and "criteria for candidate selection."
To prevent phishing text message damage, it is necessary to adhere to basic security rules such as ▲ refraining from clicking on URLs from unclear senders ▲ checking the reputation of suspicious phone numbers ▲ blocking unnecessary international text messages ▲ installing mobile security solutions.
AhnLab noted, "This phishing case is a typical social engineering attack that stimulates user psychology by leveraging sensitive issues and prizes, and caution is required as similar phishing attempts are likely to persist ahead of the presidential election."