Key barrier to online fraud can be bypassed for pennies, say researchers

*Study reveals that SMS verification is easy to bypass

Researchers say that throwaway numbers can be bought for pennies

*Japanese numbers among most expensive; UK numbers among cheapest

By Raphael Satter

WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - A central barrier to the creation of bogus social media accounts can be bypassed for as little as a few cents at a time, researchers at the University of Cambridge determined, a sign of just how low the barriers are to online disinformation efforts.

Digital platforms have a variety of defenses against fake accounts and scammers, but a key one is the practice of sending a code via text message, or SMS, to a phone number. These activation texts are meant to ensure that each account is connected to a genuine phone, but researchers mapped out an array of SMS