2 posts tagged “3.5g modem”

Watch your dongles people!

It dawned on me last night that my mobile broadband modem (aka dongle, usb modem, mobile modem, HSDPA modem, HSDPA dongle, 3G dongle etc, phew! receives text messages.  It can also send text messages.

Actually, it didn't dawn on me last night.  No.  Rather the horrible thought that it's just as easy for scammers to send me messages to that (as it's just a normal SIM with a regular mobile number) as it is to my mobile phone.  Shudder...

When using the software provided with the dongle, if I so wish, I can send and receive messages.  I could also possibly receive spam from mBlox's partners and other companies of that ilk.  As I mostly use my mobile modem on my Linux-flavoured Eee PC and, as I have no way of seeing if I've received SMS messages on that OS, then I could be in the process of being fleeced right now and have absolutely no idea until either my bill arrives or I find my bank account overdrawn.

Looks like I need to log in to My3 on my PC.

In the meantime I recommend everyone in the UK that's on mobile broadband - check your account regularly!  The 419ers would love to get away with something like this (maybe they could club together and get enough money to go "legit" - in the UK you can scam people legally and don't have to pretend to be a dodgy solicitor, banker or civil servant!)

Here's two dongles, USB dongles to be a bit more precise.  These dongles are primarily designed for laptops but can be used on desktops too.  The dongle on top is for digital TV, the dongle down below is for mobile broadband.  Because of the size at the sides, trying to insert each into adjacent sockets might be a squeeze (certainly on the Eee PC).