Vishing is the fraudulent practice of making phone calls or leaving voice messages pretending to be from reputable companies to suck individuals in to reveal personal information, such as bank details and credit card numbers.
A fraudster phones a victim posing as a bank official or service provider and uses social engineering skills to manipulate them into disclosing confidential information, while at the same time leading them to believe that they are speaking to the bank or service provider. This information is then used to defraud the victim.
Dos and Don’ts
- Be vigilant that the criminals may mask their telephone number to the one of the legitimate companies.
- Do not share confidential information, no matter who you speak to, if a caller requests confidential information, do not respond, rather end the call.
- Also note that banks will never ask you to confirm your confidential information over the phone.
- If you receive an OTP on your phone and you know you had not initiated any transaction, do not provide it or accept it, instead contact your bank immediately to alert them to the possibility that your information may have been compromised.
- If you lose mobile connectivity under circumstances where you are usually connected, check whether you may have been the victim of a SIM swop.