Vishing Scams are a New Threat and Not Fun

Vishing scams are the most recent methods of tricking you into giving money to con artists who act as if they have your best interests in mind. This method of social fraud involves phone calls from scammers impersonating your bank and asking for information a financial institution would never ask for. If you want to avoid falling for these kinds of scams, block suspicious phone numbers with dfndr security, which has a  call blocker feature.

The call blocker feature gives you the option to block a number selected from contacts or from recent calls, or to block a manually entered number. Here’s what you should know about vishing scams in a nutshell, as well as ways to avoid them.

Read More: The Rise of Phishing Scams via Text Message

A Form of Social Fraud
While phishing scams attempt to trick you into sharing your personal or banking information through emails, vishing scams accomplish the same goal through phone calls that appear to be from legitimate sources. In the case of the vishing bank scam, the caller will often have your banking information already and claim that fraudulent activity transpired in your account.

In order to keep your account in “good standing,” the caller claims that the bank requires you to transfer a sizable amount to a different bank account that has been opened under your name within the same institution.

How One UK Woman Was Tricked
British businesswoman Emma Watson is one such victim of a vishing scam. She received a phone call from someone claiming to be an employee of her bank, noting unusual transactions on her account. She spoke with someone who demonstrated professionalism as they carried out their scheme, which required her to move money into another account.

Watson adds that the scammer was skilled at manipulating her, by offering empathy and helping to walk her through the process. She ended up losing £100,000 (more than $140,000) and authorities were only able to trace and return a small amount of the total loss.

The Tell-Tale Signs of Vishing
In addition to already having some of your personal and banking information on hand, con artists speak with a sense of urgency, which activates a part of your brain that influences decision making. The pressure and urgency can lead you to make poor decisions in order to solve the problem quickly. 

Fraudsters may also hold up your line at times, which means that even if you call your real bank to verify, the call will be redirected to their line. Pay attention to the background noise during a call as scammers often use audio effects like CDs or software to make it sound a call center atmosphere.

How to NOT Fall for Vishing Scams
Never give out your personal information, bank account numbers, or your passwords. Letting any of this information slip will make it easier for fraudsters to access your account. Keep in mind that banks will never ask for your passwords or personal details. You should also keep a close eye on your bank account to ensure no fraudulent activity has happened.