FACT CHECK: Vishing Is Onboarded!@#$%?

 

FACT CHECK:  VISHING IS ONBOARDED!@#$%? Just for the past 30 days, my 24x7 phone has received more than 10 VISHING threats, whew!  Before I get misconstrued, our thread today is and should NOT be tagged as a threat OR scare to our readership.  Instead, my modest intention is to share the most urgent stuff whose relevance cuts across countries, cultures OR even callings.  BUT WHILE this is our very latest faceless nemesis to pop-out, it's NOT too late to be alerted

Just to share highlights from CROWDSTRIKE:

• 442% growth of VISHING from 2023
• 79% of detections were malware-free
• 52% of vulnerabilities were related to initial successes in the past
• 30% increased VISHING in 2025

For alignment, VISHING [a,k.a. voice phising] is a type of phishing attack were scammers use phone calls to trick individuals into revealing personal information, such as passwords OR credit card numbers by pretending to be a legitimate caller, normally from your depository bank or credit card issuer.  True, this type of scam can be executed by real humans OR via pre-recorded robocalls.  And from my observation post, they're damn smarter

WHILE most of these scammers [a.k.a. criminals] leading this type of attack aim to pressure their victims on a live phone call, sometimes they would leave voice messages to increase their credibility, thereby increasing their chances of success.  Very true, these scammers WHO use VISHING attacks commonly pretend to be respected institutions and they will use psychological techniques to simulate urgency.  In one of the most recent VISHING attempts I had, this past month, the caller new that my new credit card was recently delivered, whew!  And initially, I believed the caller NOT until he concocted a script that apparently, I received the incorrect version of the credit card.  SERIOUSLY???

Our takeaway:  You may consider my default one-liner WHEN an unknown number calls me:  PLEASE CALL ME VIA THE BANK'S LEGITIMATE LANDLINE, period  [HOW I'd do it, IF EVER I'll receive a landline call, I'd alert my RM [Relationship Manager]  and sometimes, concurrently, even the bank officers who support me.  Once I blurt that out, the caller gives up and simply evaporates in thin air.  On the other hand, if my phone rings and I DON'T hear any voice at the other end of the line, I would hang up the call within one second.  YES dude, VISHING IS NOW ONBOARDED, whether we fear it OR NOT!@#$%?