A new threat to users on “Incoming Calls” – VISHING

VISHING – a new way of hacking people, to steal amount from their bank account, credit card and similar. Recently, some people received a call on their mobile phone and affected. They lost approx. Rs. 80,000 within 05 minutes from their personal credit card account. This communication is to inform you and understand the scam to safeguard yourself. VISHING calls are drastically increased across India due to no/less awareness on this fraud.

VISHING (Phishing through Voice) is a verbal communication (e.g. VOIP or phone calls) used by an unauthorized person "pretending" to be from reputable bank/company. Their aim is to manipulate individuals into revealing financial information or transferring money to them.

How it happens?

1. Hacker obtains information from various sources, e.g. social media, e-commerce sites, leaked database, unsecured app installed in user phone etc.
2. Hacker calls victim and pretends to be an official from reputed organization, e.g. bank, company etc.
3. Hacker convinces victim that they are from real company and they do have good offers/benefits for victim, e.g. reward points, cashback, coupon codes etc.
4. Victim falls for it and tries to claim it as per guidance.
5. Hackers dictates instructions to victims to claim it.
6. Hackers uses account details shared by victims immediately.

How to protect yourself from Vishing?

1. Do not rely on unknown calls and never share vital information to them.
2. Disconnect the call immediately in case of any doubt.
3. Call the bankers/company to their numbers only provided on their websites or official sites.
4. Do not install unsecured apps in your smart phone. Installing any such apps asks for permission to access contacts, media, files from your phone. Once you granted the access, consider you are hacked. These apps can read messages (e.g. OTP received, emails etc.), personal details, or other contents from your phone.
5. Never share OTP, CVV, ATM PIN of your card, or any such vital account details.