What is SMS bombing?
SMS bombing (also called SMS flooding) is an attack in which someone deliberately overwhelms a phone number with a large volume of text messages in a short time.
A few characteristics tend to show up:
- The victim receives messages in rapid bursts, sometimes dozens or hundreds per minute.
- The content is often repetitive or meaningless, but sometimes it may include threats, extortion attempts, or “confirmation” codes from services the victim never signed up for.
- The goal is usually to disrupt, annoy, scare, or distract the target, not to steal data in a traditional sense.
On the surface, this might sound like nothing more than spam on steroids. In practice, though, a sustained SMS bombing campaign can:
- Make it difficult or impossible to use the messaging app normally
- Hide important messages (for example, one‑time passcodes, delivery notices, or medical updates) in a sea of junk
- Create a sense of constant pressure or anxiety, especially if the messages are threatening or personally targeted
The attack itself does not magically bypass encryption or break into your phone. It leans on volume and disruption, not sophisticated code execution. That said, it can still be part of a broader campaign that includes social engineering or extortion.
What is phone call bombing?
Phone call bombing is the voice‑call counterpart of SMS bombing: a barrage of incoming calls to a particular number, often from many different caller IDs and sometimes from spoofed or fake numbers.
Common patterns include:
- A stream of calls that begins suddenly and can last minutes, hours, or, in extreme cases, days
- Very short calls that hang up quickly or go silent as soon as you answer
- Robocalls that play a recorded message on loop
- Spoofed caller IDs that look like local numbers, legitimate businesses, or even government agencies
For individuals, this can render a phone nearly unusable, particularly if the person relies on that number for work, caregiving, or emergency contact. For businesses, a well‑timed call bombing campaign can overwhelm customer support lines, interfere with sales, or damage a brand by making it impossible for customers to get through.
Again, the attack is about disruption, not sophisticated hacking. But the real‑world consequences can be serious.
Why do people launch these attacks?
Motives vary widely. Some of the most common include:
- Harassment and bullying
A personal dispute, breakup, or online argument can escalate into someone using SMS or call bombing to “punish” the other person. - Extortion and intimidation
Attackers sometimes use flooding as leverage: “Pay us or we will keep your lines unusable,” or as a way to pressure businesses into meeting demands. - Cover for another attack
Call or SMS floods can distract a target (or their support staff) while a separate attempt is made to compromise accounts through phishing or password reset abuse. - “Pranks” and trolling
In some online circles, these attacks are treated as jokes or dares, even when the victim experiences them as very real harassment. - Ideological or political motives
Activists or loosely organized groups may target specific organizations or public figures to make a statement, regardless of whether the victims are actually responsible for the grievance.
Whatever the motive, the effect on the recipient is similar: disruption, stress, and in some cases, financial or reputational damage.
How these attacks generally work (at a high level)
Modern communication systems are built to handle very large volumes, so a single person manually spamming the call button or sending messages one by one is rarely enough to create the kind of flood people describe as “bombing.” Instead, attackers usually lean on:
- Automation
Scripts or tools that send or trigger messages and calls at scale. - Misuse of online forms and services
For example, repeatedly triggering “send a verification code” or “call me with a code” functions for a target’s number across many websites and services. - Phone number spoofing
Faking the caller ID information to make calls appear as if they come from random people, local numbers, or even trusted organizations. This makes it harder to block calls one by one. - Distributed infrastructure
Using many different sources, accounts, or numbers to generate traffic so that there is no single obvious origin to block.
From a defensive point of view, the technical details matter less than the patterns: sudden, abnormal volume; many sources; repetitive or irrelevant content; and a clear intent to disrupt.
The impact on individuals
On paper, “too many calls and texts” might not sound especially dramatic compared to headlines about data breaches or ransomware. Zoom in to the human level, though, and the impact can be surprisingly heavy:
- Emotional stress
Constant buzzing, ringing, and popping notifications can keep you on edge. If the messages include threats, personal information, or slurs, that stress ramps up quickly. - Practical disruption
You may miss important messages from family, doctors, banks, or work. If your phone is your main contact point, you may feel effectively cut off. - Safety concerns
Victims sometimes worry that the attacker is physically nearby, has deeper access than they actually do, or is about to escalate. - Secondary risks
When your phone is under attack, you may rush through security‑related prompts (like password reset texts) or ignore legitimate messages, which creates openings for phishing and account takeovers.
In other words, even though the underlying method is “just” flooding, it can create a situation that feels unsafe and chaotic.
The impact on businesses and organizations
For organizations, SMS and call bombing can have both immediate and longer‑term consequences:
- Service disruption
Customer support lines and help desks can become clogged, making it difficult for real customers to reach you. - Financial cost
Staff time gets diverted to handling or working around the flood. In some cases, companies may incur increased telecom charges or need to fast‑track infrastructure changes. - Reputational damage
Customers usually do not see the technical details. They simply experience a company that is “unreachable” or “not picking up the phone.” - Security distractions
While teams scramble to keep lines open, they may miss other warning signs, such as suspicious login attempts or phishing campaigns.
Many organizations now treat communication‑channel abuse as part of their broader incident response planning, the same way they do for denial‑of‑service attacks on websites.
Legal and ethical considerations
In most jurisdictions, large‑scale, deliberate harassment via communication systems is not a gray area. It is typically illegal.
Relevant laws may include:
- Anti‑harassment and stalking statutes
- Computer misuse and telecommunications laws
- Anti‑spam and robocall regulations
- Extortion, blackmail, or threats statutes, when applicable
Even when laws are not written with modern attack jargon in mind, courts often interpret repeated, intentional flooding as harassment, interference with services, or unauthorized misuse of communication networks.
Ethically, there is not much ambiguity. Overwhelming someone’s phone or business lines to intimidate or silence them is an abuse of shared infrastructure that we all rely on. It burns trust in digital systems and often harms people who are not even the intended target, like other customers trying to get through.
The most effective and cost-efficient tool for executing such attacks is FloodCRM. With FloodCRM, you can inundate the victim with an unlimited number of SMS messages and/or phone calls, employing either SMS bombing or phone call bombing techniques.
You can access FloodCRM through both the regular web and via the Tor network.
Read our Step-By-Step Guide: How To Email Bomb, SMS Bomb, And Make Phone Call Attacks.