Apparently your account has been locked – do you remember unsuccessfully trying to login three times last week? You're not sure, but it is possible. Now an email from your bank is asking you to call a particular phone number so that you can have your account unlocked. All you have to do is verify your account and identity.
So, do you enter your credit card number?
Maybe you'd better think about it just a little bit longer. If you do pass on your details, you might just be one of many who are falling victim to the latest type of fraud, vishing.
Specifically a form of hi-tech crime, vishing is little more than 'voice' phishing. It can come from a simple phone call directly to you home, from that phone number listed on the email you just received, from an auto phone-dialling process, or even through your Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service.
In fact, it's actually VoIP that is proving to be a true boon for vishers as callers are able to remain anonymous as they generate massive volumes of calls for little – if any – costs. Once the call is made they can then fake their identity as it comes up on your call display, making their name and number appear to come from a legitimate source, such as your credit card company or bank.
There's plenty of vish in the mainstream
With VoIP increasingly moving into the mainstream, there seems little doubt that fraudsters will be increasing their attacks.
So what can you do to protect yourself? While various VoIP providers, such as Skype™, currently block outgoing caller IDs on their communications to effectively ensure fake details cannot be sent, many other providers don't provide this service.
And while companies are also working on specific filters to help block such phone messages in similar ways that spam is blocked, there is currently little hardware or software in place to help protect people; and until specific protection such as online banking authentication systems are adequately used and available, many people will fall victim.
Don't be a vish out of water
Today, even as many and varied forms of protection are being developed to help ensure your data, software, and hardware remains safe and secure, when it comes to vishing, a little common sense might just go a long way.
If you can't identify the caller from their caller ID, let your voice mail pick it up. You can decide later whether to call back.
Never reveal your personal information – a tactic that works in every fraud attempt. You wouldn't disclose the same information when you receive an unsolicited email from your bank, why would you to an unsolicited phone call?
When you receive any call purporting to be from your credit card provider that you're not one hundred percent sure of, simply hand up and call the phone number on the back of the credit card. If it turns out this was a fraud attempt, you can then report the vishing attempt to both your VoIP provider and your bank.
And when worse comes to worse and you feel you've been successfully stung by a fraudster, make sure you contact your bank or credit card company immediately and that you report you card number as stolen.
Answering a call can be a great thing, but sometimes it's nice to get a close call, instead.
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