When we think about phishing attacks, in which scammers try to lure personal information from internet users, we think about the false perspective of official e-mail and Web-sites.

But you do not even need to be online to get phished. Phishing attacks make rounds trying to cheat mobile phone users in identifying their personal information over the phone. It uses SMS messages, making it the “SMiShing” attempt.

It all starts with the text of the spam messages purporting to be from financial institutions. In this case, it is from a source identified as the KeyPoint Credit Union, warning that the account was blocked, and the provision of 888 numbers to “verify” account, says CNET News reader, who received a spam text message on your Sprint phone.

When the phone is called, the automated message asks SocialSsecurity, credit card number, and driver’s license number, he said.

“Each carrier has not seen,” Matt Sullivan, press Sprint, said on Tuesday. “We have a filtering technology that we’re always updating to try to remove some of this situation.”

Replying to a question, how the spammers get hold of telephone numbers, Sullivan suggested that they use an automatic random dialing. Even if only 1 percent of the population to be called for their information, SMiShers successful, “he said.

The client can block certain numbers that call save, but for the majority of spammers that are not effective because they are usually one shot on the phone, then go to the Sullivan said.

Sprint has a fraud warning on its website during the year about SMiShing, but reports back at least 2006.