Technology
How hackers can send text messages from your phone without you knowing
There is enough to worry about in life without the additional stress and terror of finding out your friends, family or complete strangers have been receiving a text message from “you” without your knowledge. How did they do that? How did they send a text message from your phone without you knowing?
This is a real threat that many people face every day. That’s why we felt it was so important to answer this question sent in from John.
“I just found a text written to me, which was a response to a text I sent. Problem is, I didn’t send the text? I’m 65 years old, and not as spry as I once was, but I do not remember sending the text. My wife is trying to convince me I’m going crazy. She says it’s impossible for someone to send a text (impersonating me) without having possession of my phone. Is that true? Can someone hack your phone and send text??” – John, Fort Myers, FL
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What is SMS spoofing?
We’re sorry to hear that you’re going through this, John. It is possible for someone to send a text message impersonating you without having possession of your phone. This is known as SMS spoofing, and it is a technique used by cybercriminals to send fraudulent text messages.
How does SMS spoofing work?
SMS spoofing works by manipulating the sender ID of a text message to make it appear as if it was sent from a different phone number. This can be done using various online services that allow users to send text messages with a fake sender ID. Cybercriminals will change the sender ID to impersonate friends, family, or a legitimate company.
Example of text message screenshot of hacker pretending to be a bank (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
It is important to note that SMS spoofing is illegal and can be used for malicious purposes such as phishing scams, identity theft, and fraud. Scammers bank on the combination of familiarity and urgency to get you to interact with their text either by clicking on a link, downloading a file, or responding with personal information.
How to spot and avoid SMS spoofing scams
Here are the top 3 reasons why scammers often send text messages under a fake sender ID with some urgent request:
1. Trick you into clicking on a malicious link that leads you to a malicious website to rob you of your personal or financial information or even unleash malware or viruses to your phone.
Screenshot of text SMS spoof trying to trick you to click a malicious link (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
2. Lure you into paying a fake bill under the guise of a reputable or familiar company.
Screenshot of text spoof trying to trick you to pay fake bill (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
3. Damages your reputation or relationship with friends, family, and others by sending harmful messages.
Screenshot of text spoof trying to damage your reputation (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
iMessage Vulnerabilities
SMS spoof on Apple device from hacker posing as financial institution (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
In the past, many Apple devices were considered to be virtually immune to viruses and malware. Unfortunately, due to bugs in iOS, hackers can take over someone’s device just like any other device on the market. While Apple patches these vulnerabilities on a consistent basis, this leaves iPhone users vulnerable to SMS spoofing, too.
A hacker can use “interaction-less” bugs to send a specially crafted SMS message and the iMessage server can send user-specific data, including images or SMS messages, back to them. The user doesn’t even have to open the messages to activate this bug. Additionally, hackers can send malicious codes through texts, embedding them onto the user’s phone. These vulnerabilities are unique to Apple devices.
Aside from the specific vulnerabilities, hackers generally need the user to interact with the text message before the malicious code gets unleashed onto the device.
MORE: CHECK AND DETECT IF SOMEONE YOU KNOW IS SNOOPING ON YOUR IPHONE
7 Actions to take if you suspect SMS spoofing
If you suspect that your phone has been hacked or that someone is impersonating you, it is important to take immediate action. Here are some steps you can take:
1) Have good antivirus software on your phone: Having good antivirus software actively running on your devices will alert you of any malware in your system, warn you against clicking on any malicious links that may install malware on your devices, allowing hackers to gain access to your personal information. Find my review of Best Antivirus Protection here.
2) Keep your phone software updated: Both iPhone and Android users should keep their phone’s OS and apps updated regularly as Apple and Google release patches to vulnerabilities as they are discovered. Updating your phones can prevent hackers from exploiting security flaws and sending text messages from your phone without you knowing.
3) Change your passwords: Change the passwords for all your online accounts, including your email, social media, and banking accounts. Do not use easy-to-guess information such as your birthday or address. Use strong, unique passwords that are difficult to guess; preferably ones that are alphanumeric and, if applicable, include special symbols. Be sure to do this on another device in case there is malware on your phone monitoring you. Consider using a password manager to generate and store complex passwords. It will help you to create unique and difficult-to-crack passwords that a hacker could never guess.
4) Enable two-factor authentication: Enabling two-factor authentication on all your online accounts will add an extra layer of security to your accounts and make it more difficult for hackers to gain access.
5) Contact your mobile carrier: Contact your mobile carrier and report the incident. They may be able to help you identify the source of the text message and take appropriate action.
6) File a police report: If you believe that you have been a victim of identity theft or fraud, file a police report with your local law enforcement agency.
Fraud detection text message alert on iPhone (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
7) Watch your connections: When possible, do not connect to unprotected or public Wi-Fi hotspots or Bluetooth connections. Turn off the Bluetooth connection when not in use. On most iPhones, you can choose who to receive files or photos via AirDrop (a Bluetooth feature) from by selecting to receive from “no one,” people in your Contacts, or Everyone. We suggest you set it to “no one” and only turn it on when you are with the person you are sending or receiving a file or photo from.
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I’ve been scammed by SMS spoofing. What to do next?
Below are some next steps if you find you or your loved one is a victim of identity theft from an SMS spoofing attack.
1) Change your passwords. If you suspect that your phone has been hacked or that someone is impersonating you, they could access your online accounts and steal your data or money. ON ANOTHER DEVICE (i.e., your laptop or desktop), you should change your passwords for all your important accounts, such as email, banking, social media, etc. You want to do this on another device so the hacker isn’t’ recording you setting up your new password on your hacked device. Use strong and unique passwords that are hard to guess or crack. You can also consider using a password manager to generate and store your passwords securely.
2) Look through bank statements and check account transactions to see where outlier activity started.
3) Use a fraud protection service. Identity Theft companies can monitor personal information like your Social Security Number (SSN), phone number, and email address and alert you if it is being sold on the dark web or being used to open an account. They can also assist you in freezing your bank and credit card accounts to prevent further unauthorized use by criminals.
Some of the best parts of using an identity theft protection service include identity theft insurance to cover losses and legal fees and a white glove fraud resolution team where a U.S.-based case manager helps you recover any losses. See my tips and best picks on how to protect yourself from identity theft.
4) Report any breaches to official government agencies like the Federal Communications Commission.
5) You may wish to get the professional advice of a lawyer before speaking to law enforcement, especially when you are dealing with criminal identity theft, and if being a victim of criminal identity theft leaves you unable to secure employment or housing
6) Alert all three major credit bureaus and possibly place a fraud alert on your credit report.
7) Run your own background check or request a copy of one if that is how you discovered your information has been used by a criminal.
8) Alert your contacts. If hackers have accessed your device through SMS spoofing, they could use it to send spam or phishing messages to your contacts. They could impersonate you and ask for money or personal information. You should alert your contacts and warn them not to open or respond to any messages from you that seem suspicious or unusual.
9) Restore your device to factory settings. If you want to make sure that your device is completely free of any malware or spyware, you can restore it to factory settings. This will erase all your data and settings and reinstall the original version. You should back up your important data BEFORE doing this, and only restore it from a trusted source.
If you are a victim of identity theft, the most important thing to do is to take immediate action to mitigate the damage and prevent further harm.
MORE: HOW TO TELL IF SOMEONE HAS READ YOUR TEXT MESSAGE
Kurt’s key takeaways
It’s possible for someone who doesn’t have physical possession of your phone to spoof your information for SMS spoofing. Though you might not have control over who gets your number, there are steps you can take to protect yourself.
Have you ever received a convincing text spoof message? What were the telltale signs that it was a spoofed message? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.
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Congress narrowly voted to fund President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda, giving the Department of Homeland Security $70 billion over the next three years.
The house voted 214 to 212 in favor of the reconciliation bill Tuesday, following the Senate’s 52-47 vote last Friday morning. The vote fell largely along party lines. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) was the only Senate Republican to vote against it. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), initially voted against the bill — meaning it would have failed — but changed his vote after huddling with House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-OK), according to The Hill. No Democrats voted in favor of the funding bill, which was done through a budget reconciliation process to avoid a Democratic filibuster.
In a speech on the House floor ahead of the Tuesday vote, Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) criticized Republicans for using the budget reconciliation process to avoid negotiating with Democrats, and emphasized ICE’s lack of popularity with the American people.
“At its core, this Republican reconciliation budget bill is a statement about priorities, and the priorities represented in this budget bill could not be more out of step with the needs and values of the American people,” Scanlon said.
Scanlon noted that DHS has yet to spend $100 billion of the nearly $200 billion it received under Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. She added that Trump has not only expanded ICE’s reach by increasingly going after legal immigrants but also weaponized DHS against its critics. The bill, she said, will “supercharge” Trump’s abuses.
After the House markup last Friday, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, noted that the bill not only lacks sufficient reforms but also cuts funding for cybersecurity and TSA, whose workers went weeks without pay during the DHS shutdown.
The funding bill comes at a time of deep unpopularity for ICE. One recent poll found that just 33 percent of voters approve of how the agency is doing its job.
And it comes amid yet another threat from border czar Tom Homan to flood New York City with ICE agents. In an interview with Fox News on Monday, Homan said he would send “more ICE agents than you’ve ever seen” to New York City if the state government passed a bill limiting cooperation with DHS.
“Providing a quarter trillion dollars to an administration promising that the public ‘ain’t seen shit yet’ when it comes to mass deportation is a historic mistake,” Todd Schulte, president of the immigration reform group FWD.us, said in a statement. “Supercharging the funding for these already out of control systems will come with terrible human consequences and continue to be met with increasing opposition from voters.”
Correction, June 9th: A previous version of this story said Rep. Tim Walberg voted against the funding bill. He initially voted against it but then changed his vote to support it.
Update, June 9th: This story has been updated to include comment from FWD.us president Todd Schulte.
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Food prices have a way of sneaking up on you. One week, your usual grocery run feels normal. The next week, a few basics suddenly cost a lot more than you expected.
That is why money-saving food apps are worth a closer look. All of these apps are free to download or sign up for, but you still pay for any food, groceries or purchases you make through them.
Some help you find discounted groceries before stores toss them. Others connect you with surprise meals, receipt rewards, free local listings or recipes based on what you already have at home.
The trick is knowing which app fits the way you actually shop. Here are eight apps that can help you stretch your food budget, reduce waste and maybe make your next receipt feel a little less painful.
10 THINGS TO STOP PAYING FOR TO SAVE MONEY NOW
Food savings apps can help shoppers find discounted groceries, restaurant meals, receipt rewards and free local food listings. (iStock)
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1) Flashfood
Flashfood helps you find discounted groceries from participating stores near you. The app focuses on food that is still good but getting close to its best-by date. You browse local deals in the app, pay through the app and pick up your order in the store. Flashfood says shoppers can find grocery deals for up to 50% off. That can include produce, meat, dairy, pantry items and other staples, depending on what stores near you have available.
- Best for: Discounted grocery pickup.
- How you save: Buy marked-down groceries from participating stores before they go to waste.
- Good to know: Availability depends on participating stores near you.
2) Misfits Market
Misfits Market delivers groceries to your door. The company says it offers high-quality rescued foods and lets you choose what goes in your order. After signing up, you receive a weekly shopping window. You can review your cart, remove items, add groceries and skip orders when needed. This can work well if you want grocery delivery and like the idea of reducing food waste at the same time. Misfits Market says there are no subscription fees or order obligations. You can skip, pause or cancel.
- Best for: Grocery delivery with rescued food.
- How you save: Order discounted groceries, including rescued or excess food, delivered to your door.
- Good to know: Delivery depends on your ZIP code. Misfits Market says it serves nearly every ZIP code in the contiguous U.S., with limited service in select areas.
Misfits Market lets you customize grocery deliveries with rescued or excess food that may cost less than traditional shopping.
3) Too Good To Go
Too Good To Go helps you buy surplus food from nearby restaurants, bakeries, cafés and stores. The app uses “Surprise Bags,” which means you usually know the type of food and pickup window, but not every exact item inside. That surprise part can be fun, especially if you like trying local spots. It can also be less ideal if you need a very specific dinner plan. Too Good To Go says users can save and enjoy food at half price or less.
- Best for: Discounted restaurant and bakery food.
- How you save: Buy discounted Surprise Bags from local restaurants, bakeries, cafés and stores.
HEALTH-CONSCIOUS AMERICANS EMBRACE YUKA APP TO GUIDE GROCERY SHOPPING CHOICES
Food savings apps work best when they match how you already shop, pick up food, save receipts or plan meals. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
4) Olio
Olio connects people locally so they can give away food and other useful items. The app says you can browse free food from local shops and neighbors. You may also find books, toys, toiletries and household items. This one feels more community-based than a regular coupon app. It can be especially helpful if you live in an active area where neighbors and local shops often post.
- Best for: Free local food and household items.
- How you save: Find free food and household items shared by neighbors or local businesses.
- Good to know: Results depend heavily on your local community.
5) SuperCook
SuperCook helps you turn the food already in your kitchen into meals. You enter the ingredients you have at home, and the app suggests recipes you can make. That can save money in a different way. Instead of buying more groceries, you may find a way to use the half bag of rice, frozen vegetables or canned beans you already paid for.
- Best for: Using up food you already have.
- How you save: Turn ingredients you already have into meals, so you can avoid another grocery run.
- Good to know: This one does not give cash back. It helps you avoid extra spending and food waste.
6) Ibotta
Ibotta gives you cash back on eligible purchases. Before you shop, you add cash-back offers in the app. After shopping in-store, you submit your receipt. Ibotta says you can withdraw earnings once you reach $20. It’s great because it can work with groceries and other everyday purchases. The key is remembering to add offers before you shop and submit your receipt after.
- Best for: Grocery cash back.
- How you save: Earn cash back on eligible grocery and everyday purchases after you submit receipts.
- Good to know: You need to match the right offers and follow the redemption steps.
7) Fetch
Fetch turns receipts into points. You shop, snap receipts and earn points that can be redeemed for gift cards. Fetch says you can earn points from in-store or online shopping, plus offers from participating brands. This app can be simple because you do not always need to pick offers before you shop. Still, special offers can help you earn more points.
- Best for: Turning receipts into gift cards.
- How you save: Snap receipts to earn points you can redeem for gift cards.
- Good to know: Points vary by receipt, brands and offers.
Fetch turns receipts into points you can redeem for gift cards from popular retailers.
10 TECH UPGRADES TO SAVE YOUR TIME, PRIVACY AND MONEY
Receipt rewards apps such as Ibotta, Fetch and Upside can help shoppers earn cash back or gift cards on eligible purchases. (SDI Productions/Getty Images)
8) Upside
Upside is best known for gas savings, but it can also work for groceries and restaurants where offers are available. You open the app, claim a cash-back offer near you, shop as usual and pay with a credit or debit card.
- Best for: Cash back on groceries, gas and dining.
- How you save: Claim cash-back offers on gas, groceries and restaurants at participating locations.
- Good to know: Grocery and restaurant offers depend on participating locations near you.
For direct links to each app and any available CyberGuy savings codes, visit CyberGuy.com and search for “8 apps that can help you cut your food bill.”
Which app should you try first?
Start with the app that fits your normal routine. If you already shop at grocery stores in person, try Flashfood or Ibotta. If you save receipts anyway, Fetch is an easy add-on. If you order groceries online, Misfits Market may be worth checking. If you like trying local food, Too Good To Go can be a fun way to save. If your fridge is full, but dinner still feels impossible, SuperCook may help you avoid another grocery run. For gas and food cash back in one place, Upside deserves a look. For free local food and community sharing, Olio may surprise you, depending on where you live.
A few smart tips before using food savings apps
Before you download every app on this list, take a moment to think about your habits. First, check whether the app works in your area. Some apps depend on local stores, restaurants or community activity. If there are no nearby offers, the app may not help much yet.
Next, watch pickup windows. Apps like Flashfood and Too Good To Go can save you money, but they also require timing. If you miss the pickup, you may lose the deal. Also, avoid buying food only because it looks cheap. A discounted item saves money only if you actually use it. Finally, read the app’s privacy settings. These apps often work through location, receipts, purchases and rewards accounts. Use only the permissions you feel comfortable sharing.
Kurt’s key takeaways
Food savings apps can help, but they work best when they match your real life. Flashfood and Too Good To Go are great for deal hunters who can pick up food nearby. Misfits Market works better for people who want groceries delivered. Ibotta, Fetch and Upside can help you earn something back from purchases you already make. SuperCook and Olio come at savings from a different angle. One helps you use what you already bought. The other connects you with local people and shops that share food and useful items. The biggest takeaway? Do not let the app make you spend more. Use it as a tool, not a temptation.
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Would you try an app that sells surprise food bags, or do you want to know exactly what you are getting before you pay? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.
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MacOS 27 Golden Gate will usher in a bunch of changes to the Mac when it’s released later this year, with its biggest new features revolving around Siri AI. But for now, using the first developer beta, Siri AI is only offered through a waitlist. So what’s available to try is mostly about how the upcoming operating system looks and feels.
You’re not welcomed with any fanfare when you boot up the macOS 27 developer beta (that’ll probably come later), but there’s reason to celebrate. Jump to the appearance settings, and you find that Apple now has a Liquid Glass slider, allowing users to set the amount of UI transparency in macOS. On one end of the slider, it’s as seethrough as Liquid Glass gets, and on the other end the transparent accents are heavily frosted. Golden Gate starts you in the middle of the slider by default, for just a touch of frosting — perhaps a gentle admission that the original look went too far. You sadly can’t go fully opaque, but this frosted look does greatly reduce the distracting elements of Liquid Glass.
After spending just a short while with Golden Gate, I already prefer the minimum transparency look. I’d crank that slider in the full version and never turn back. For the strongest Liquid Glass haters out there, the Reduce Transparency option is still available in the Accessibility settings, but using it is like taking a hammer to all that glass — introducing lots of harsh gray and black backgrounds to the dock, Menu Bar, and Control Center.
The absolute wins for macOS 27’s design is the return of edge-to-edge sidebars with colorful icons and the increased corner radii of windows across the OS. The former is basically a backtrack to the way sidebars used to look (which looked better and easier to parse, with less wasted space). And the latter is just logical. How on Earth did Apple get so high on its own design supply that it allowed windowed apps to have mismatched corners?
I do have my nitpicks — the new battery icon taken from iOS is less legible (really, I hate it). Also, after Apple finally added the most basic window snapping feature in Sequoia, it hasn’t refined it one bit. Both Tahoe and now Golden Gate are leaving me wanting better and faster tiling controls like Windows 11, as well as the simple ability to rename virtual desktops. But so far, nothing.
Apple says Golden Gate is supposed to feel snappier, with faster search indexing. It’s too early to tell how much of a difference this makes on the MacBook Neo I’m testing it on — especially since dev betas are notoriously buggy and unstable. Using Spotlight search for local files on Golden Gate performed similar to another Neo I had on-hand running macOS 26 Tahoe. And opening apps on both systems side-by-side led to mixed results: Golden Gate opened Lightroom Classic and Slack faster, but Tahoe was faster to open Photoshop and Steam. I hope Apple’s under the hood improvements to memory and CPU usage will really show on the MacBook Neo, which could use all the efficiency it can get, but the jury’s out for now.
There’s still more to come with further beta releases of macOS 27, where we’ll at some point be able to fully test Siri AI, Visual Intelligence, and the revamped Spotlight Search. Last year’s power user-focused Spotlight with clipboard history was a nice improvement, but I’m skeptical that Siri AI being baked into Spotlight will be quite the gamechanger Apple’s billing it as. I’ll keep an open mind and be looking to find out once I’m off the waitlist.
For now, I’m relieved Apple is slightly backpedaling on Liquid Glass. While the look was never quite as bad on the Mac as it was on iOS, it’s a welcome change to be able to turn down these transparencies and get a little closer to the old looks from Sequoia. That and the other bits of UI polish are a nice upgrade on their own. Now, Apple has to show that it can nail all the new AI features, too — I’m eager to see how it fares.
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