Phone Phishing Definition
Phone Phishing, also known as “vishing”, is a cybercrime which involves fraudsters impersonating a legitimate institution to extract sensitive information over the phone. Vishing is a combination of “voice” and “phishing”, and it seeks to exploit the trust victims have in telephone services to steal valuable information like credit card numbers, social security numbers or other personal information.
Phone Phishing Key Points
- Phone Phishing or vishing is a social engineering technique focusing on voice communication.
- The term is a combination of the words “voice” and “phishing”.
- In this method of fraud, the scammer poses as a trusted entity to extract sensitive information from the potential victim.
- The information sought by scammers typically includes data that can be used for identity theft, like credit card information or social security numbers.
What is Phone Phishing?
Phone Phishing is an illegal activity designed to trick phone users into revealing sensitive information to scammers. Phishers will often pretend to be banks, credit card companies, and other trusted organizations in order to gain the victim’s trust and extract valuable information.
Where does Phone Phishing occur?
Phone Phishing happens anywhere since it targets individuals over the voice call platform. As long as scammers have access to a target’s phone number, and the target trusts the false identity presented by the scammer, vishing can occur.
When does Phone Phishing happen?
Phishing can occur at any time, day or night. Most often, however, vishing attempts are made during normal business hours in order to create an illusion of legitimacy.
Why does Phone Phishing happen?
The main reason behind Phone Phishing is for scammers to gain unauthorized access to sensitive information. Such illicit activities often lead to financial losses for the victims and financial gain for the perpetrators. It’s also used for identity theft.
How does Phone Phishing work?
In a typical vishing scenario, the perpetrator calls a victim posing as a trusted institution. The scammer usually has a convincing storyline, such as suspicious activity on the victim’s account. The victim is then prompted to provide sensitive information to resolve the so-called issue. Once the victim provides this, the scammer can exploit it for financial gain or other malicious purposes.
