09 Jan What are Vishing and Smishing Attacks and How You Can Prevent Them?

Vishing or voice phishing is a cyberattack that attempts to exploit sensitive personal data provided by an individual over the phone. These attacks usually involve spoofing phone numbers so that incoming calls from fraudsters are mistaken as if they’re coming from trustworthy agencies or credible vendors.

Smishing or SMS phishing attacks are initiated by sending text messages containing malicious web links or asking the user to dial a particular phone number to provide critical personal data.

Top Tips for Identifying Vishing and Smishing Attacks

With cybercriminals resorting to increasingly creative approaches, it’s no wonder that identifying malicious requests would only be more challenging than ever.

Some of the most common red flags for vishing and smishing attacks are explained below in brief.

• Unsolicited Requests for Personal Information

This may include the attacker posing as a bank official and asking you to share your social security number over the phone.

• Text Messages with Web Links That Are Either Different or Differently Spelled

Cyberattackers may send you text messages that contain non-standard or unusual-sounding spellings of popular websites like gmailbox.com or amazonstore.org for eliciting a response from you, including your login password and user name.

• Generic Greetings

Malicious calls or texts may begin with non-personalized greetings, such as dear bank user or hi business owner, seemingly referring to a popular credit card provider or an established financial institution.

• Be Wary of COVID Schemes

Cyberattackers are increasingly using current affairs and manipulating the common people through alarmist methods or misinformation. They may quote updates or information related to COVID-19 or state falsified test reports and trick users into divulging personal data.

• Phone Messages That Appear Automated or Recorded

Vishing attacks may comprise pre-recorded voice messages, either spoken by a human or computerized, requesting you to dial a specific phone number or press your phone’s keys in a certain order.

Responding to Vishing and Smishing Attacks

• Never open any suspicious web links or entertain dubious requests for sharing sensitive data unless you’re confirmed that the identity of the sender is authentic.
• Call a trusted customer support number to verify whether or not the communication is legitimate in the event you’re not sure of its safety and credibility.
• Protect your devices
• Upgrade to the latest version of operating systems for your computer and mobile phone
• Run a full virus scan at regular intervals
• Use encryption and make sure that you’ve got a secure, firewall enabled and password-protected virtual private network or wireless connection.
• Shut down your computer when you don’t intend to use it for reducing the odds of being targeted by hackers

• Examine your access logs for identifying any potentially suspicious activity
• Actively scan the web applications of your organization.
• Restrict your virtual private network and enforce the best-in-class multifactor authentication systems
• Enlist your phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry
• Be aware of the latest trends in vishing and smishing attacks.
• Always choose complex and strong passwords.
• If you believe that you’ve revealed critical data to cybercriminals, inform the incident to the concerned authorities in your company along with changing your passwords and personal identification numbers, wherever applicable.
• Cancel any bank accounts that may have been breached and report the incident to the relevant financial institution
• Cancel or freeze your credit card in the event you suspect that it’s been compromised and make a habit of checking your credit reports on a periodic basis for identifying any potentially suspicious activity.
• Implement procedures and policies for appropriately responding to situations like when your customer data is compromised and stolen from the company database
• Notify the scam to Federal Trade Commission by dialing (888) 382-1222 or report it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Call Us Now to Protect Your Business from Vishing and Smishing

At Zumar Consults, we help organizations in addressing their challenges through an eclectic combination of state-of-the-art resources and highly scalable solutions. Contact our team of experts today and schedule a consult.