Aug 30, 2024
Voice phishing, commonly known as vishing, is a type of phishing attack where scammers will call bank account holders and pretend that they are authorized bank agents.
The global outbreak in 2020 has indeed resulted in a realization that businesses can adapt to the changing patterns, and at the top of that list is making transactions more convenient for everyone. This demand for convenience paved the way to revamping how we do business, making everything accessible online such as purchases, bills payments, remittances, etc.
This opportunity prompted the demand for more businesses to go virtual as it has evidently become a win-win situation. For clients, there would be no need to leave their houses just to do some errands like going to the bank, as online bank transfers are already a thing. It is also a win for businesses, as it would mean less operational costs since employees are doing remote work, not to mention that the demand for virtual jobs have been consistently high ever since the pandemic began.
This, however, created a new threat that seemed impossible back in the day when most people prefer face-to-face transactions, but has now become rampant.
Just recently, news broke out about authorities raiding a “private office” in Cavite which has been running vishing operations for 11 years. Arrested individuals include a known personality and other recruits who fell prey to the promising job offer, not knowing that the company that hired them is a scam hub.
Voice phishing, commonly known as vishing, is a type of phishing attack where scammers will call bank account holders and pretend that they are authorized bank agents. They will provide certain scenarios such as offering credit limit increase or changing their card types to trick the account holders into giving their personal data such as full name, date of birth, and account/card number, without realizing that these scammers are already stealing these information to commit fraudulent activities such as theft, unauthorized purchases and loans charged to their accounts. This is similar to smishing where scammers will send malicious links through text messages or messaging apps and will trick users to click the link in order to steal their personal data.
According to one of the recruits of the raided scam hub, these scammers earn as much as Php 5 Million a week, indicating that despite the increasing awareness of these incidents, they can still victimize a great number of individuals through their modus, which operates by securing copies of accomplished credit card application forms from third-party contractors of commercial banks. They will then call the numbers indicated in the application forms and introduce themselves as authorized bank agents to offer promos, loans, or card replacements. Once they get the interest of the victim, they will proceed to conduct a “verification process" by getting the credit card number, one-time PIN, and other information needed to complete the modus. By getting this information, these scammers can have access to the victim’s bank accounts to make withdrawals and other transactions.
Although this has been going on for years even before the pandemic, this type of cyber attack resonated just a few years back where there were already a huge number of complaints reported to the authorities which involved large sums of money and assets. With this, banks have been proactive in sending out infographics via emails and various social media platforms to inform bank account holders to be more vigilant once encountered such attacks.