What Is Vishing? And Why You Should Be Concerned?
What Is Vishing? And Why You Should Be Concerned?
By Devin Dabney
While reading an article on MSN.com, I discovered a new term that law enforcement has given to a common crime. In the past, much emphasis has been placed on avoiding emails that ask for sensitive information such as social security numbers, account numbers, and passwords. Of equal importance, I believe, should be the focus on not giving this information over the phone. Thus, the term “vishing”.
In laymen s terms, vishing involves a scammer sending mass emails to people which use some type of call to action involving phoning a certain telephone number. In the article I read, some recipients were notified that their online accounts had been suspended and they needed to call in to verify the account. Others were told that their accounts had been disabled due to unauthorized access attempts.
There are three steps you can take to protect yourself from being a victim:
1) Don t call any numbers that show up in your email box requesting information. If there s a problem, most times they will contact you directly by phone. Even if someone contacts you by phone, find the number for their company without their assistance and ask to call back.
2) Avoid emails from strange addresses. Most of the time, if it s coming from a reputable company, the email address would be “support@companyname.com” or something similar.
3) If you re unsure about something or it just doesn t seem right, ask someone about it. Seek the advice of a computer and/or internet professional to avoid costly mistakes.
Devin Dabney is a computer consultant, author, speaker, and entrepreneur who is the founder and CEO of DabneyWorks Computer Consulting. DabneyWorks provides remote and in-person computer assistance, website design and auditing, and business consultation.
For more information, visit http://www.dabneyworks.com
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