Definition
Artificial inflation of traffic (AIT) is a type of A2P SMS fraud in which fake traffic is generated through a business's apps or websites so that parties in the delivery chain profit from the termination revenue, while the business pays for messages with no real recipient.
AIT is the industry name for the scheme; SMS pumping describes the attack as seen from the business's sign-up form. The GSMA's Mobile Telecommunications Security Landscape lists AIT among new and repackaged fraud types, using OTP verification during registration as the typical example.
The economics explain why it persists: every A2P message is paid for by the sender and generates revenue for networks and intermediaries along the route. If a party at the terminating end shares that revenue with the fraudster, fake traffic becomes profitable. Because each message looks like a normal OTP, operators and aggregators cannot easily tell it apart from genuine traffic.
Businesses carry most of the cost, so prevention starts in the application: limit who can trigger a message, how often and to which countries, and track whether messages lead to real outcomes (codes entered, logins completed). Providers and operators add SMS firewalls, traffic-pattern analysis and blocking of abused number ranges.
When choosing a provider, ask how they detect AIT, whether they can apply per-country caps and alerts on your account, and how disputed traffic is handled.