Vishing Scams on the Rise – What are They and How to Protect Yourself Against Such Scams 

Duping customers on the phone isn’t a new concept. However, it’s the use of phishing techniques to dupe mobile users that’s new. Mostly unheard of, Vishing is the combination of Phishing and Voice calls. Since it’s a comparatively newer way of luring customers into revealing sensitive data, it’s necessary that you get yourself informed about what makes Vishing scams lethal before you can learn about the different security concern protection techniques against such threats. 

Why are Vishing Scams Getting Bigger and More Prevalent?

The IT department and the cybersecurity teams started coming up with multiple ways to track fraud calls. This started affecting the business of scammers. This is when they came up with this newer technique, Vishing where they now use Voice Over IP services – VoIP – on the web that makes it very difficult and unrealistic to track the location of such calls. This is the one way in which such fraudsters misuse the web services. The other reasons that these scams are getting bigger are listed below.

• Victims usually report that the calls they received were from people who had their personal details like their name and even their home address. 
• More than 70% of people report that it seemed that the call was from the bank since the scammers knew their social security number. 
• It’s also startling that many scammers have prior knowledge about the amount to be paid as an EMI for a loan or the exact amount to be paid for the credit card bill. 

The one thing that is common in all the factors listed above is that the scammers knew a lot of personal details about their victims that made the calls sound genuine.

Since we live in such tricky times where no information is safe on the web, it’s necessary that you adopt as many security measures as you can to save yourself. Some such techniques that’ll provide you a good cover against Vishing scams are listed below. 

• Do not allow unreliable apps to auto-save your card details. It’s mostly from such sources that scammers are able to find out your card details. 
• It’s best to not auto-feed your details on any software. It’s always best that you feed it manually every time you are on the web. 
• Never share your OTP with anyone, no matter how genuine the call sounds. 
• Never share your CVV or your account details with anybody on the phone. Remember, phone companies and banks will never ask you to share any personal information over the phone. If you get any such call, do not fail to report those calls to your nearest cybersecurity cell. 

These techniques that might sound trivial actually end up saving your money and a lot more from frauds that are present everywhere, looking for a target to exploit.