Police arrest crew that sent malicious messages to thousands across Toronto

Police have arrested and laid 44 charges against three men who allegedly used an SMS blaster in downtown Toronto. The program, which began in November 2025, is the “first known case” of an SMS blaster operating in Canada, according to the police report.

In a statementthe Toronto Police Service said it believes tens of thousands of devices were compromised with text spam over several months.

SMS blasters work tampering with cell towers and emits a stronger signal than other towers in range to trick nearby cell phones and tablets into connecting to the blaster. Once connected to nearby devices, an SMS launcher can send thousands of text messages, which may contain links to phishing sites impersonating the login pages of legitimate businesses. Such devices exploit security weaknesses in older 2G mobile networks to send these messages.

The scheme aimed to steal people’s usernames and passwords, including banking credentials, Toronto police Detective Sergeant Lindsay Riddell told the press conference.

Police said such devices disrupt nearby cellular communications and interfere with 911 emergency services.

Police released a photo of a similar explosive SMS found in the UK during an earlier investigation (pictured above), but declined to release a photo of the detonator found in Toronto, citing security concerns.

Authorities said the SMS blaster was “uniquely constructed” and operated from the back of a vehicle, allowing the device to be used in multiple locations across Toronto.

In 2024, police in Thailand arrested gang members for running a similar SMS blaster from the back of a truck in Bangkok. Gang members reportedly sent nearly one million text messages over three days.

Users can block attempts from SMS spammers by disabling their phones’ 2G mobile connectivity. Apple device users can enable the lock function to disable their 2G radios.