Smish and Chips: A Crash Course in Chinese Smishing, Carding, and Fraud

Aurora Johnson | Kyla Cardona

Chinese-language phishing, carding, and digital fraud actors have rapidly matured in recent years, increasingly targeting Western users through large-scale campaigns such as “fake toll violation” and “missing package” smishing. This talk delivers a high-level overview of the Chinese-language cybercriminal ecosystems behind these campaigns, highlighting the specialization of roles, supporting services, tooling, and marketplaces that enable them. This crash course will be structured into three parts: phishing and scams; carding and cashout; and influencers and marketplaces.