Cable & Wireless engineers have identified an attempt to use its SMS system.

A third party has been detected sending a large number of spoof text messages, principally to numbers in France and Spain.

They have sent these texts using a range of numbers, some of which are attributed to Sure mobile customers. Affected customers have reported receiving unwanted texts, which are actually responses to the spoof texts sent out by that number.

Personal details of customers have not been targeted nor accessed and customers have not been charged for any texts sent out using their number.

Sure’s Chief Technical Officer, Russ Sharman commented, said: ‘This has been a sophisticated and malicious attempt by an unknown party to send free texts to a large volume of people using our SMS system. Our network engineers have traced the source of the attack and blocked it.

‘If customers receive unwanted texts from a seemingly random source they should simply delete them and take no further action.’