Vishing, A New Kind of Threat

With the popularity of Internet telephony, comes a new scam called Vishing. The gals over at Blogher, wrote a good conversation starter about it. Vishing is a phone scam that uses Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology to trick you into divulging personal or financial information over the phone. Criminals use this new technique to randomly dial customers in hopes of obtaining their credit card number complete with security codes, expiration date and other information. It's extremely important for VoIP users to be extra vigilant when receiving mysterious calls or emails that "alert" them of fraudulent activity on their credit card.

If you receive a call prompting you to dial a toll-free number, think twice before offering sensitive information, especially over an automated system. The call may appear legitimate, but what unsuspecting card holders don't know is that this new breed of criminals have software that can recognize telephone keystrokes, and any information they enter is being recorded. Once criminals get this information from you, they will not think twice about cleaning out your account. The scary part about this type of scam is that victims are often unsuspecting because the crime is being conducted offline. Since this is still a new type of technology, there is not much you can do in terms of installing software or some sort of encryption method. The best thing you can do is use common sense. It's better to call your credit card provider or bank if you suspect any illegal activity on your account.

How Phishing Sites Work
The Attack of the Big Phish
How to Spot a Phishing Scam