All vishing calls are phone scams<\/a>, but not all phone scams are vishing.\u00a0 The line between them is a fine one, but it\u2019s distinct.\u00a0 A straight-up scam attempts to trick you into coughing up some cash, through intimidation (\u201cI\u2019m from the IRS, and you owe us money!\u201d) or an appeal to greed (\u201cYou\u2019ve won our sweepstakes! There\u2019s just this processing fee\u2026\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vishing plays a longer game. The con artists may attempt to coax crucial personal information from you, such as your SSN, account passwords, and PINs, or they may helpfully walk you through the process of downloading and installing malware on your computer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The real damage happens after they\u2019re successful.\u00a0 They can use the information you\u2019ve given them to loot your accounts, steal your identity, and target your friends, family, and colleagues with impersonation scams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vishing attacks can take a number of different forms. These include\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n You receive a call that appears to come from a number legitimately belonging to your bank or credit card company (faking a legitimate number is called \u201cspoofing<\/a>,\u201d and it\u2019s pretty easy).\u00a0 A pleasant, professional-sounding person tells you there have been suspicious purchases on your account, and \u2014 if you take the bait \u2014 will talk you through verifying your identity and taking the information necessary to send out a new card.\u00a0 This is bogus<\/a>, of course, and the information you give will give them access to your accounts and much of what they need to steal your identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The attack might take the form of an email purporting to come from Amazon or a streaming service you use or the publishers of one of the apps on your phone. The pitch is that \u201cthere\u2019s a problem with your order\/account\/app, so please call us toll-free to sort it out.\u201d When you do, you\u2019ll be deftly prompted to give up your account information or \u2014 in some cases \u2014 install malware or ransomware on your devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Robocalls can be used in the same way to initiate contact: A recorded message asks you to call a given number to sort out the problem with your account, and if you do, you\u2019ll be speaking with the scammer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These can be either vishing or straight-up fraud, depending on their approach. In the case of vishing calls, they\u2019ll tell you there\u2019s an issue with your account that needs to be resolved (or potentially that they\u2019ve corrected an error that means a balance in your favor) and that they need to verify your details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This one took on a whole new life during the pandemic as working from home became common.\u00a0 The caller claims to be a coworker, and either has misplaced his login information or plays the harried IT guy trying to sort out a snafu with everyone\u2019s credentials.\u00a0 If you give him yours, you\u2019ve potentially made your whole company (and its clients!<\/a>) vulnerable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some clever attacks combine phishing and vishing<\/a> for maximum effect.\u00a0 A conventional phishing attack might include a link to a dubious site or an attachment with a malware \u201cpayload\u201d that installs if you download it.\u00a0 Email providers have algorithms to detect and block those, but a phone number flies beneath their radar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A well-planned vishing call is a pretty persuasive thing: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Your best protection against vishing calls is simply a healthy level of skepticism. If you receive a plausible-sounding call, don\u2019t engage with the caller. Just hang up and call back the corresponding company or government office directly from their listed number. In the unlikely event that the call was legitimate, you\u2019ll be connected to the correct department quickly enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can also take more active steps to protect yourself, such as: <\/p>\n\n\n\n In one oddball variant that\u2019s worth mentioning, the vishing scheme\u2019s target is\u2026your phone number. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Why? Because it gives the scammers opportunities to target people with seemingly local calls (\u201cYou don\u2019t know me, but our kids go to the same school\u2026\u201d), or to use your phone number in targeted phishing or fraud campaigns against your friends, family or coworkers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, the scammer finds your phone number somewhere it\u2019s been posted publicly (often a Craigslist ad).\u00a0 Then they call, claiming to be from that site, and telling you they\u2019ve sent a verification code<\/a> to the phone number you listed.\u00a0 You\u2019re asked to enter that code to verify your phone number. What\u2019s really going on is that the scammers have created a Google Voice account<\/a> using your number, and the verification code has come from Google.\u00a0 When you pass it along to the scammer, they\u2019re now able to make calls from Google Voice that will show your number.\u00a0 The outcome might be a phishing call to your workplace or a \u201cfamily emergency\u201d call to an elderly and confused relative, asking for a loan to help you out.\u00a0 Often, unless the scammer does target your family, you\u2019ll never know what has happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the silver linings to vishing is that it requires a scammer speaking to you one-on-one and therefore is a relatively \u201cartisanal\u201d form of fraud. Unfortunately, that\u2019s changing rapidly. Some scammers operate full-scale call centers, just as legitimate companies do, and have a number of operators to make or receive calls, but a bigger danger comes from technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Digital assistants (Siri, Alexa) and those software \u201cvoice agents\u201d you hear when you call some companies are getting better all the time, and new, AI-driven technologies<\/a> like Google Duplex can imitate a human pretty well.\u00a0 Some scammers have begun using this kind of technology in their vishing calls, with an interactive bot delivering the main pitch and then referring you to a human \u201csupervisor\u201d if you ask a question that takes them off-script.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AI-driven software can now even take a small sample of your voice (say, the message from your voicemail) and imitate it, in a sort of audible \u201cdeep fake.\u201d\u00a0 As that technology inevitably migrates further into the criminal underworld, the potential for misuse<\/a> is huge.\u00a0 If scammers successfully add your number to their Google Voice account, and match that with your voice, they can impersonate you to friends, family<\/a>, or anyone you do business with.\u00a0 More to the point, they can do it en masse to thousands of people at once\u2026a thought that should send chills down your spine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since vishing typically relies on having some of your personal information, simply restricting the information you put out there is the most proactive measure you can take.\u00a0 The sum total of your online activity is your \u201cdigital footprint<\/a>,\u201d and keeping it to a minimum<\/a> is very much in your interest.\u00a0 Shut down old accounts, bump up the privacy settings<\/a> on your social media accounts, and \u2014 in general \u2014 don\u2019t share your personal information in public spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taking those basic precautions can go a long way toward making your online life safer, and in turn, insulating you from vishing and other forms of criminality. Remember, criminals are always looking for the easy target (if they wanted to work hard, they\u2019d have real jobs). If you\u2019re not one of those easy targets, they’ll usually overlook you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What is vishing? Learn how these \u201cvoice phishing\u201d attacks work, how to recognize them when you hear them, and how to prevent them. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":25271,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[612,614],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guides","category-safety"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Most Common Types of Vishing Calls<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The \u201cPotential Fraud\u201d Call<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Customer Service Calls<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
IRS and SSA Calls<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Call from Work<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Phishing\/Vishing Combo<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"vishing](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.spokeo.com\/compass\/image\/pexels-sora-shimazaki-5935792.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nHow to Protect Yourself from Vishing Attacks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
The Google Voice Scam Is an Unusual Vishing Attack<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"woman](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.spokeo.com\/compass\/image\/john-tuesday-8c6iJMh80BI-unsplash.jpg?resize=1024%2C681&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAI-Powered Vishing Is an Emerging Threat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Be Privacy-Minded, to Nip Fraud in the Bud<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Sources<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n