RCS messaging system used for spam in India

If the fashion catches on, maybe we’ll have a new way to get spam on our smartphones. Several users in India confirm that Google Messaging’s RCS is being used to send spam.

apparently, several users in India have experienced a new wave of spam that uses RCS messages to propagate. With this system, spamming companies use user numbers to send messages with advertising content, often without authorization, which even manages to avoid the Google message filtering that is in the application.

A Reddit user claims that he receives such messages almost every day. They use the power of RCS to provide users with links and images that are more visible than a simple text message or an unknown link.

It is important to note that these messages are not sent directly by Google, but by organizations that can obtain users’ phone numbers by sending messages to those who have RCS active.

Technically, RCS is conceived as an evolving new form of SMS communication. They use mobile data to send multimedia content directly, in addition to other benefits such as the ability to check when another user is writing. This is a powerful addition to the SMS replacement that more and more carriers are integrating into their services.

However, this also opens up opportunities for spamming directly through this system. It’s not that it’s very different from the spam that’s currently being sent by regular SMS in many countries…