As people increasingly become smarter about habitual email-based phishing scams, the bad guys have shifted their focus from emails to phone calls. In their 2019’s 5th annual report, Trucaller revealed that nearly 1 out of 6 Americans lost money from a phone scam in the last one year. The report further reveals that the average loss per victim was $244, which means that phone scams cost 43 million victims about $10.5 billion in total losses.
If these statistics are anything to go by, it’s not wrong to say that there’s a high probability that you or a person you know will fall victim of VoIP phishing at some point. So, there’s no better time to learn a thing or two about VoIP phishing than now. The following are important aspects to know about VoIP phishing:
What is VoIP Phishing?
VoIP phishing is an illegal cyber practice, whereby cybercriminals get hold of financial information and confidential data of individuals via the Voice Over IP. Cybercriminals trick phone users into giving out their personal information, which is often used for criminal activities such as identity theft, bank fraud, credit card fraud, loan fraud, etc.
How VoIP Phishing Works
Scammers typically make phone calls making it look like it’s from a genuine financial company, utility company, retail company, or any other services provider you’re affiliated with. Popular examples of VoIP phishing scams include:
- Calls informing you of an issue with your bank account
- Calls informing you that you have won prizes, lotteries or sweepstakes
- Calls informing you of unpaid utility bills
- Calls informing you of a business or job opportunity
- Calls informing you that one of your relatives is in trouble
One thing that is common in all these VoIP phishing scams is that the criminals on the other end of the line usually ask for a certain amount of money so that the problem they are calling you about can go away. Knowing how to spot likely attacks is the best line of defense against these damning tricks.
Want to know more about how you can protect your company against all kinds of VoIP phishing scams? Whole I.T. Solutions has got all the answers. Contact us or call us at (323) 977-6400 today to talk to our experts.