Introduction to Vishing and How to Prepare

Sourced by Fortra Terranova Security

Less of a cyber security threat and closer to a scam, Vishing refers to attempts to steal information or money over the phone by convincing the victim. These calls often use personal data acquired through previous cyber attacks to gain their victim’s trust.

This type of threat is definitely on the rise—especially with the help of AI. Like many other hacks and scams, Vishing is a popular attack type because it is simple to carry out, scales well, and is often successful. 

The most common type of vishing is impersonating an authority figure such as a government official, client, or coworker. The scammer’s goal is to obtain sensitive information such as a social security number. Still, these calls can become global threats if the victim is convinced to provide something with wider ramifications, such as a computer password. In rare cases, the scammers will attempt to convince the employee to wire money or pay for a fake invoice to steal the company’s funds. No matter the goal or method used by the scammer, the only way to foil these attacks is through proper user awareness programs.

This article will look at seven common examples of Vishing and explain them thoroughly so your users don’t fall into the trap.