As new frauds are emerging, phishing’s new siblings – Vishing (voice phishing) and Smishing (SMS phishing) are taking birth. Though, Vishing sounds like twin sister of “Social Engineering”.
Phishing scams, where criminals attempt to elicit payments or personal details by e-mail, are now well known, so practitioners are turning to telephone-based variants. The principal method is “vishing” (voice phishing), where the perpetrators call victims posing as their bank and ask them to verify their identities by divulging personal details, often using an automated system. In the most convincing version, the target is not asked for details on the spot, but told to call the bank’s “fraud department” on a specified security number. “Smishing” (SMS phishing) is the latest adaptatation, where initial contact is made by text message.
The times article also discusses other emerging frauds and how people fall victim of them.
