Phishing over the telephone

[Teresa]

By now I hope that most of you are all aware of phishing scams (if not, here is a quick run down from Wikipedia.org). And this week's topic is all about vishing (or voice phishing), which is a scam very similar to phishing tactics, but performed mostly through the telephone or cell phone rather than through Web sites or e-mails. This process of vishing is an electronic fraud tactic where unsuspecting people are called or left a message in one form or another, using an automated process (voice recording) stating that your financial account has been possibly compromised and your verification is needed to ensure it hasn't been compromised. What usually follows the message is a prompt requesting you to enter personal information (credit card information, PIN, Social Security number, etc.). Or if it is left as a message on your answering machine, it leaves a number for you to call back and once you call back, it will prompt you to enter your information. Either way, if you do enter that information (and I hope no one does), before you know it, someone out there has your personal information and is probably laughing all the way to the bank. These scam tactics come in all shapes and sizes; the bottom line is that they're out to get your personal information--if you allow them to! And once you read through the answers that Judie received from our members, you'll get a good sense of what's out there.

I know for a lot of you this whole vishing or even phishing thing sounds trivial, and simple common sense tells us to hang up or ignore it. But unsuspecting people will fall victim to these scams, and unless we as a community raise awareness to our families, friends, and co-workers, scammers will continue to prey on those uninformed folks. So as a community, I urge you all to do a good deed and spread the word about these malicious scams to hopefully stop this crime.

Take care, and be safe!

[KandyKane]

One of my deepest concerns regarding this, is the elderly victims falling prey to this.  Lots of elderly folks are so trusting and vulnerable.  Is there any way of protecting them from being robbed of their life's savings?

[Teresa]

I would say to just tell your family members and tell them to tell others. That is the only way you can "hope" that others don't fall for all the scams that are out there.
We are in the "days of distrust" unfortunately.. and you can not trust anyone that you do not know ( and then sometimes THAT is questionable too  )