Toronto Police say they have arrested three men in connection to a fraudulent “SMS blaster” scheme.
Speaking at a press conference last Thursday, Det-Sgt. Lindsay Riddell said the investigation began back in November, 2025, when police were alerted to a suspected SMS blaster operating in downtown Toronto.
Police later determined that the blaster was operating from a car (fairly common in this type of scam), allowing it to travel throughout the Greater Toronto Area to target more victims.
Riddell said that she believes “tens of thousands of victims” connected to the SMS blaster over the last several months, noting that more than 13 million network disruptions were reported to police.
Arrests Made in Project Lighthouse, First-of-its-Kind SMS Blaster Investigation in Canada
News release: https://t.co/kDAgK2NTnx pic.twitter.com/1dO2K1DQDb— Toronto Police (@TorontoPolice) April 23, 2026
The scam, a first-of-its-kind in Canada, uses a device (usually placed in the trunk of a vehicle) that mimics a regular cell tower. When activated, it tricks nearby phones into connecting to it rather than a legitimate tower.
From there, the device sends fraudulent text messages that appear to come from trusted sources (banks, service providers, etc.) and include fake links that steal your personal, financial, or social logins.
Aside from the financial risk, police said the SMS blasters posed a safety risk because the devices could disrupt emergency calls to 911 by regularly interrupting cell service.
Dafeng Lin, 27, of Hamilton, Junmin Shi, 25, of Markham, and Weitong Hu, 21, of Markham, have been arrested and charged with offences including fraud and mischief. The investigation is still ongoing.
This car trunk SMS blaster scam isn’t new — similar incidents have been reported in countries like the UK, Greece, and the Philippines. But, as mentioned earlier, this is a first for Canada. Police did say that they were “pretty confident” that they had dealt with the risk from SMS blasters, but still be cautious of any unknown links in unexpected texts, and never share personal or login info over the phone.
Source: CBC
Image Credit: Shutterstock
