Vishing: What Is It, and How Can You Prevent It?
If you think you already know everything about phishing, you’d be wrong! Technology is always advancing, and cyber criminals are always refining their techniques.
Today, the staff at celito is taking a deep dive into vishing, or voice phishing. Whether you’re using your personal cell phone or a VoIP business phone, you need to keep your private information safe.
celito is Raleigh’s premiere VoIP phone provider. We are locally owned and operated, and we are dedicated to serving our community.
In addition to being the Triangle’s best VoIP phone service, we also offer business fiber Internet, data center, and IT consulting services.
When it comes to VoIP business phone services, you need a provider who protects your business’ interests. That’s why we are here to warn you about the dangers of vishing.
What is Vishing?
Vishing is a form of phishing that uses phone calls to steal sensitive data. A cybercriminal will call and try to convince the victim to divulge information like credit card numbers, passwords, or social security numbers.
We’ve all received a spotty robocall informing us of something unbelievable, like a warrant for our arrest in a state we’ve never visited; however, not all vishing attacks are as easily identified.
Cybercriminals will often impersonate someone the victim trusts, such as a bank or government agency. This approach is key to social engineering, a technique that leverages human instincts and socialization to trick you.
From this position of power, cybercriminals often use threats of legal action or financial penalties to convince the victim to give them the information they want. They also stress that a decision must be made immediately, giving the victim no time to think it over.
Cybercriminals tend to tie their story to a current event or time of year, such as pretending to be an IRS representative during tax season, to add credibility to their call.
Vishing doesn’t just target individuals; organizations must be on guard as well. To effectively advertise, businesses have to make certain information public–allowing a cybercriminal to find and utilize it in their vishing attack.
Common vishing techniques include:
- War dialing: targeting messages at specific area codes
- Abusing VoIP business phone services: using a VoIP business phone to create a fake number that appears local or related to a specific business or organization
- Caller ID: setting a number to appear as a trusted organization or Unknown on caller ID
- Dumpster diving: gaining phone numbers and other private information from trash
- Tech support fraud: impersonating a tech support employee who has noticed unusual activity and is looking to confirm account information
- Telemarketing attack: claiming that the victim has won a free prize and just needs to give certain information to receive it
How to Prevent Vishing
The number one way to prevent vishing is to never divulge sensitive information over the phone. A legitimate organization will never pressure you to give something like your credit card number over the phone.
If you are concerned the call may really be from a bank, utility company, or government agency, hang up and call the organization’s customer support line. They will be able to let you know whether the message you received was legitimate.
Some other methods for preventing vishing include:
- Never answering a call from an unknown phone number
- Being wary of threats, aggressive language, and unreasonable urgency
- Double-checking that phone numbers are legitimate
- Asking the caller for proof of their credentials
- Avoiding giving your phone number to people or organizations you do not know
celito: Your Local, Secure VoIP Phone Provider
With celito’s business phone VoIP services, you can trust in our experienced, local support.
We are information technology and communications experts, and we have the expertise to personalize our business phone VoIP, data center, IT consulting, and business fiber internet services to your business’ needs.
celito has your business’ best interests at heart. Our dedicated staff does everything we can to deliver superior VoIP business phone services while keeping you safe and secure.
Contact us today to find out what Raleigh’s best VoIP phone service can do for you!
