Hackers on Monday hijacked a mass text messaging service, pushing hundreds of thousands of scam texts to people who subscribe to alerts from New York state, a Catholic charity and a political organizing group.

While text message scams from unknown numbers are common , it’s extremely rare for cybercriminals to successfully take over an existing, legitimate bulk text messaging operation.

Mobile Commons, the company that was hacked, works with local and state governments and progressive organizations to send out public service announcements and fundraising texts.

In a statement, the company said: “On the evening of Monday, November 10th, an unauthorized third party gained illegal access to our platform through what we believe was a spear phishing attack or similar social engineering meth

See Full Page