You have had junk mail from people who are not who they say they are. Get ready for SMS from people who are not who they say they are, and nor is the displayed number the one that is actually sending it.

It is now possible for people to send SMS and hide the true number from which they are sending it, or even display another number from which is was not really sent. The internet's capability to allow people to send SMS' has made this even easier. "SMS spoofing became possible after many cellular operators integrated their network communications with the Internet," according to Denis Pankratov and Dmitri Kramarenko of the Ukraine-based Computer Crime Research Centre (CCRC).

SMSes are only as trustworthy as e-mails. But unlike the latter, where the header holds clinching evidence about the source computer, it's impossible to trace the genesis of an SMS that carries only numbers. To boot, SMS is highly suited to bulk application like e-mail. Spoofers either set up personal SMS servers or use others' for a fee. These messaging centres can't be pinned down either. "SMS technology inherently supports spoofing," reveals Nayak. "All one needs is an application designed for that." So it's only a matter of time before tricksters latch on to the web-based, third-party SMS spoofing software products like

• Clickatell,
• Lotus Domino or
• SMSspoof, readily available on the net.

  "Any person can purchase or download evaluation copy to commit a crime," say the CCRC experts.