What is Vishing?

What is Vishing?

You’ve probably heard about Phishing, but what about Vishing? If you’re like most people, you probably haven’t heard of it, but it’s a growing method used for fraud, and you should learn more about it before it becomes an issue for you.

Simply put, vishing is like phishing (fraud perpatrated via email), but it’s usually done on the phone, and in particular over a Voice Over IP, or VoIP connection. (Think Skype and other VoIP services) A visher will call a victim and attempt to get sensitive and/or confidential information from them, like a credit card number, Social Security number, bank account information… anything they can use to get access to your money or important info.

Often times the vishing attempt will start out familiar. Here are some examples of how a vishing attempt could be set up:

  • An automated call from your bank claiming there’s a problem with your ATM card. They’ll probably ask you to “confirm” your bank account number.
  • A person on the line claiming to be from a government agency (think: the IRS) with a tax problem they’ve found. A verification of your Social Security number will surely be involved in this case.
  • A department store attempting to clarify a purchase on a credit card. They’re likely to ask you to verify your credit card number, expiration date, and the “3 numbers on the back of the card”. Do that, and you may as well fill up their holiday wishlist for them yourself.

The list could literally go on and on, but I’m sure you get the picture. Anywhere you have, or could have, used your SSN, your credit card, bank account, etc. is a potential front for a fraudster.

Once they have your information, the sky’s the limit. So how can you prevent yourself from being a victim? Well first off, most companies won’t ask for sensitive information over the phone, especially if they initiated the call. In fact, many services and companies have that fact listed on their website and in their documentation. Secondly, if you have a feeling the call may be real, but you’ve got a funny feeling about it, hang up, go through your paperwork to find the right number to call back, and verify things that way. If it was a scam, you’ll know right away, and if it was a legitimate call, you can take care of the problem right there. That extra few minutes double checking could mean the difference between being scammed or not.

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Fake FDIC Phone and Email Scams

Fake FDIC Phone and Email Scams

The name of the FDIC continues to be used by scammers to try to get your money or commit identity theft. In the past few months, the FDIC has been receiving increasing reports of fraudulent phone scam attempts by people claiming to be from the FDIC. These calls are, in fact, a vishing scam. (A form of social engineering that takes place over the phone, often through a VoIP connection) According to the FDIC in their September 2010 Consumer Alert:

To date, the callers have alleged that the call recipient is delinquent in payment of a loan that was applied for over the Internet or made through a payday lender. The loan may or may not actually exist. The caller attempts to authenticate the claim by providing sensitive personal information, such as name, Social Security number, and date of birth, supposedly taken from the loan application. The recipient is then strongly urged to make a payment over the phone to “avoid a lawsuit and possible arrest.” In some instances, the caller is said to sound aggressive and threatening.

Source: FDIC

If you get a phone call, email, fax, carrier pigeon, or anything from the FDIC claiming something akin to the aforementioned, it’s a scam, plain and simple. These scam artists aren’t dumb. They’ll craft an email, a phone script, or even a website to look as legitimate as possible in order to fool you, but it’s not from the FDIC. In fact, the FDIC specifically states that:

The FDIC generally does not initiate unsolicited telephone calls to consumers and is not involved with the collection of debts on behalf of operating lenders and financial institutions.

Source: FDIC

In short, if it’s a phone call, hang up. If it’s an email, don’t click on anything and delete the email. Then go through your bank and credit card statements to make sure you aren’t already facing an identity thief who is trying to gather more data on you. If you find out that you’ve been swindled already, contact your financial institutions immediately.

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Reporting Online Fraud and Cybercrime

Reporting Online Fraud and Cybercrime

If you or someone you know is becomes the victim of online fraud or any other type of cybercrime (or even just an attempt at it), you need to contact the authorities as soon as possible. Keeping it to yourself can lead to repeated attacks, as well as continued spread of Internet fraud, crime, and even increased distribution of viruses and spyware through crime networks that try to set up shop on your computer.

Depending on what level of fraud and/or cybercrime you’re dealing with, you may have to notify multiple agencies. But regardless of how many places you have to contact, doing so will be the first step to stopping the crooks in their tracks. Please use the list below as a starting point to report any incident:

  • An Important First Step:

    If the fraud you’re reporting reporting is, or becomes, aggressive or threatening in any manner, contact your local authorities. The police in your community should be made aware of any potential threats to you, your family, your home, etc.

  • Get Into The System:

    Head to IC3.gov, the “Internet Crime Complaint Center”. This site is a partnership between several government agencies, including the FBI. The IC3 has an online complaint submission form that you can use to report online fraud and other Internet-related scams.

  • If It’s International…:

    If you feel you’re the victim of an international scam operation, contact econsumer.gov, a coalition of about 2 dozen countries who want to help stop cross-border cybercrime. You may also want to contact a US Secret Service field office to let them know, too.

  • Contact Credit Reporting Companies:

    If you think you’ve been the victim of identity theft, contact any one of the big 3 credit reporting companies. They’ll get your information disseminated to all three. Their contact info is as follows:

Don’t just be a victim of online fraud and cybercrime. Contact the appropriate authorities and government agencies and stop Internet-related crime before it stops you.

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