Vishing the New Fraud: Committed By Using a Telephone By Dr. Bernice Wilson, Resource Management Specialist

Vishing, a fraud that is committed through the use of a telephone, is on the rise. Consumers should be careful about how they provide financial information over the phone. The Better Business Bureau (2006) describes this fraud as the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and call it vishing, which is short for voice phishing. According to an article in Consumer Affairs, VoIP is also an inexpensive platform to launch these attacks.

Phishing is a fraud carried out through e-mails that appears to be legitimate from a financial institution. It solicits recipients to click on a link in the e-mail in order to provide correct information about the recipients' bank accounts.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC, 2006) reported that in a typical vishing scam, consumers receive an e-mail from a financial institution or government agency asking the consumer to call a specific phone number where they are to provide bank account and other information using their telephone keypad. Therefore, vishing is done by asking recipients to provide similar financial information through the use of their telephone. The scammer believes the recipient would be more prone to provide the financial information over the telephone. So, the telephone call on a "Caller ID" would look at if it is being placed from a local area code and telephone number. Sometimes the number could be an 800 number. When the victims call the telephone number they are prompted to follow an automated attendant that guides them through entering the necessary financial information, such as their account number, password or other important information that might be used for security verification purposes. Yet, under false pretenses the account numbers are needed to be able to connect to a service representative who will help them correct their financial information. Moreover, it could be an instance where the crooks may already have the card number and may ask the recipient to verify their three-digit security code on the back of the card.

If a recipient is contacted he or she should hang up the telephone and immediately call the consumer service number listed on the back of their credit or debit card, or some other document where such information is listed. Alert your financial institution that such contact has been made. This will make the financial institution aware of the act and let them know their customers have encountered vishing attempts. Quick action on the victims' part will help continue to keep their financial information secure.

The FDIC (2006) warns:

• Avoid calling telephone numbers provided in unsolicited e-mails that requests personal identification.
• When in doubt, contact your financial institution using the telephone number provided in your monthly statement or on the back of your credit or debit card. Avoid calling numbers listed in any e-mail.

The Better Business Bureau (2006) offers helpful tips that consumers can also use to protect themselves from vishing fraud/scams:

• Vishing e-mails seem urgent and may ask you to confirm account information. Also look for misspelled words.
• Hang up immediately if you get a "vishing" phone call. Contact your bank and report the number. Your bank's phone number should appear on the back of your credit card.
• Banks are not known to use a message that is prerecorded. They already have your account information on file and it is unnecessary for them to request identifying information.
• Be wary of an unknown phone number even if it's a local area code. Hackers can access Caller ID systems and assign local area codes to phone numbers.
• For more information, visit the Federal Trade Commission's Identity Theft site.

Additionally, Consumer Action (2006) recommends these steps to help protect you from identity theft.

• Do not call phone numbers you receive from junk mail/spam and avoid entering private information in response to a message from unknown sources.
• Don't visit sites you believe are fraudulent, and do not open unknown e-mail.
• If an e-mail or a caller says that matters are urgent, be skeptical. It may be a ploy to obtain private information from you.

As always, using common sense in any situation is a good defense and the same applies when confronted with a scam.

References
Better Business Bureau. (September 29, 2006). 'Vishing' is the new 'phishing'. News and Articles. Retrieved on December 8, 2006.

Consumer Action. (July 28, 2006). Vishing: A new twist in identity theft. Retrieved on December 8, 2006.

Consumer Action. (October 15, 2006). Phone 'vishers' want to steal your information. Retrieved on December 8, 2006.

Consumer Affairs.com. (July 24, 2006). "Vishing" is the latest twist in identity theft scam. Retrieved on December 8, 2006.

Federal Deposit Insurance Company. (Fall 2006). Beware of phone-based vishing scams. FDIC Consumer News. Retrieved December 8, 2006.

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