Vishing

What is Vishing?

Vishing is a type of cyber scam carried out through a phone call. Cybercriminals request personal or financial information while posing as a bank or a company that appears to have some kind of relationship with the victim. They may use a real person’s voice or an automated system. In other words, in this scam the attacker can have direct contact with the victim.

If you want to learn more about the most common cyber scams and what measures you can take to protect yourself from these crimes, we invite you to explore articles related to online fraud on our blog. Here’s a direct link:

The four most common types of cyber scams

How does vishing work?

Some common elements of the vishing modus operandi:

• The scammer contacts the victim by phone, often using number spoofing so the call appears to come from a legitimate entity.

• A sense of urgency or alarm is created: “Your account has been compromised”, “We urgently need to verify your data”, pushing the victim to act fast.

• The call may include an automated system or a real person guiding the victim to reveal data such as card number, PIN, passwords, security codes, etc.

• With this information, scammers can carry out withdrawals, fraudulent purchases, unauthorized transfers or identity theft.

When in doubt, take extra precautions

Vishing is a dangerous scam and can appear far more believable than an SMS or an email — but it’s not. This is why caution is crucial, especially with elderly people or users with low digital experience, who may trust a phone call as a more “serious” or “reliable” channel.

If you receive an unexpected call asking for personal information, be suspicious. It’s important to verify who’s calling and, above all, never share passwords, PINs, verification codes (OTP), or banking details over the phone.