Updated June 19, 2023
What is Vishing Attack?
The following articles provide an outline for Vishing Attack. Vishing is a cyberattack that uses the phone to gather targets’ personal details. Cyber attackers utilize clever advanced social engineering techniques to urge targets to respond, handing up sensitive information and access to bank accounts. This is known as voice phishing which is also known as Vishing.
Like phishing and smishing, Vishing influences targets to answer the caller. The caller will frequently impersonate the police, the government, the tax department, or the target’s bank. Cyber attackers make victims feel they have no choice but to deliver the requested information using threats and persuasive language. Another popular strategy is to make threatening voicemails warning the listener that if they don’t call back right away, they risk being arrested, having their bank accounts blocked, or even worse.
How Does Vishing Attack Happen?
Some attackers employ threatening tactics, while others claim to be assisting the victim in avoiding criminal penalties. It includes more than just contacting random phone numbers is required for a successful vishing attack; attackers utilize a structured approach to steal from victims:
- The attacker starts by researching their intended victims. One example is sending malicious emails to expect someone to respond and reveal their phone number. Alternatively, the attacker may use specialized software to dial several numbers with the same area code as the targets.
- The victim is unlikely to be suspicious of the caller if they have already been duped by a phishing email. The victim expects a phone call, depending on how advanced the phishing/vishing technique is. People are more inclined to take calls from numbers with a local area code, which hackers are aware of.
- Once the attacker has the victim on the phone, they will appeal to the victim’s human instincts of trust, fear, greed, and a desire to help. Depending on the vishing technique, the attacker may utilize all or just one of these social engineering techniques to persuade the target that they are doing the right thing. For example, the attacker may request bank account information, payment card information, address, and action from the victim, such as transferring money, sending private work-related documents through email, or disclosing information about their company.
- The criminal conduct does not end here. The attacker can now go on to execute more crimes now that they have this information. For example, an attacker may deplete the victim’s bank account, execute identity fraud, use the victim’s payment card information to make illegal purchases, then contact the victim’s co-workers to dupe someone into providing confidential company information.
Techniques of Vishing Attack
Here are some Common Vishing Techniques, which are given as follows
1. Wardialing
The attackers use software to contact specific area codes with a message involving a local bank, business, police department, or other local entity. When the phone is received, an automated message asks for the person’s entire name, credit card number, bank account number, mailing address, and even social security number. According to the recorded message, this information may be required to prove the victim’s account has not been compromised or confirm genuine account data.
2. VoIP
Because of VoIP, attackers may easily generate fake phone numbers and hide behind them. These numbers are difficult to trace and are frequently used to generate phone numbers that appear local or have a legitimate prefix. For example, some attackers would construct VoIP numbers that look like they are from a local hospital, a government agency, or a police department.
3. Caller ID Spoofing
Caller ID spoofing is similar to VoIP vishing in that the attacker hides behind a fake contact information ID. They may use an unknown caller ID or claim to be a legitimate caller by utilizing a caller ID such as Government, Police, Tax Department, etc.
4. Dumpster Diving
Searching through dumpsters behind offices, banks, and other random institutions is a common way to acquire legitimate phone numbers. Criminals frequently gather enough information to launch a focused spear-vishing attack on the target.
Examples of Vishing Attack
Vishing is quite common, and these examples demonstrate how easily fraudsters can encourage targets to take action.
1. Technical Support Services Fraud
The caller poses as Microsoft, Amazon, or the local wireless provider’s technical support. They’ve spotted strange activity on the victim’s account and want to double-check that they have the correct account information. The attacker may request an email address to send the victim a software update to safeguard their PC from the attacker; however, this infects the target’s computer with malware.
2. Bank Impersonation
The attacker appears to be calling on behalf of the victim’s bank using a spoofed caller ID and phone number. The caller claims there has been strange activity on the victim’s account and requests that the target confirm their bank account information and mailing address for identification purposes. The attacker then uses this information to commit fraud.
3. Telemarketing Attack
Everyone likes to win a free prize, and cybercriminals exploit this desire to deceive naive targets into disclosing personal information. The caller states that this information is essential to handle the free prize and ensure its delivery on time to the victim.
Conclusion
In this article, we have seen what Vishing attack is and how it occurs. Hence some measures have to be taken to Prevent a Vishing attack, like Don’t give or confirming private details over the phone. Remember that your bank, police department, hospital, or any other government body will never call you to ask for private details.
Pay careful attention to the caller. Pay attention to the language used, and take a moment to consider your response. Never give out any personal details. Do not double-check your address. Threats and urgent requests should be avoided. Do not reply to emails or social media messages requesting your phone number.
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