URI schemes tell a computer or mobile device where to go for a certain resource, such as launching an app or dialing a phone number when a link is clicked. This could potentially allow clever criminals to utilize Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) schemes called “tel” to run call fraud. The flaw allows a call to be placed without requiring the user to confirm their action when a link is clicked. The latest mobile threat to be on the lookout for comes courtesy of a security precaution often overlooked in many popular mobile messaging apps like Facebook messenger, Apple Facetime, and Gmail for mobile. We now use our mobile devices for phone calls and everything else under the sun, so it makes sense then that pranksters and their far less benign counterparts (hackers) have also adopted new ways of duping unsuspecting users out of their personal information and money. Today, mobile phones have not only replaced such relics as the landline, but they have also opened consumers up to a whole new realm of scams. Gone are the days of the traditional prank phone calls, executed by giggling teenagers in a darkened kitchen. However, they may be allowing their smart phones to do just that, by falling trap to a newly discovered security flaw. Most people would never think to prank call themselves.

Phone prank dialer