Vishing is fraudulent phone calls and / or leaving convincing voicemails acting as a reputable company or agency to convince victims to reveal personal information such as banking, credit card numbers, passwords and more.

Here’s more:

Like Phishing or smishing, vishing relies on technology to convince victims they are doing the right thing by revealing their information. Many times, the fraudster portrays an urgent need for the victim to give up their information quickly. Cyber criminals use threats and presuasive language to make victims feel like they have no other choice. A common tactic is that fraudsters may leave threatening voice mails that the recipient must call back immediately or they risk accounts being frozen, arrest or worse.

Here’s how you can protect yourself!

• When you get an unsolicited call, don’t act swiftly – act with caution.
• No financial institution or merchant will ask you to update your account information
• Never give personal information on the phone,
• Look out for suspicious calling or texting numbers
• Refuse to take the bait – don’t respond