Vishing, the new phishing
There is a new trend in the phishing market. It is called voice phishing or vishing for short. The principle remains the same, only instead of asking users to go to illicit websites over spam mail, scammers now ask that they make a call and provide various details that way.
For example, recently there was the deactivated VISA scam: "Please notice that your VISA card is now disabled and you will not be able to use it. … This is a security measure made by your bank. …". If you’re good at following instructions, you call a toll free number and key in your credit card number and then…Oh well.
The trend began as soon as the general public became aware of the simple phishing scams and the way they work. Scammers needed something new and refreshing, thus coming up with this. Experts say that some of these scams don’t even bother to use emails, but go directly to working by phone. They know the calls are virtually impossible to trace, since they’re going through VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) and can hide the source of the call. Some have even managed to appear to be a financial institution in the recipient’s ID display.
Since last year, voice phishing scams have moved from large credit card and online payment companies to clients of smaller financial institutions.
Total phishing losses in the US have almost reached 3 billion dollars.
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