Canada arrests three for operating “SMS blaster” device in Toronto

### Executive summary Canadian authorities disrupted a mass SMS phishing campaign using vehicle-mounted “SMS blaster” devices that mimicked legitimate cellular towers to push fraudulent messages to nearby phones across the Greater Toronto Area; searches seized multiple devices and three suspects were detained. The technique caused widespread temporary network disconnection (13 million reported entrapments), risked interception of credentials and access to victims, and prompted guidance to avoid SMS links, disable 2G downgrades on Android where possible, and use end-to-end encrypted channels for sensitive communication.