You are the resident IT within your family. While relaxing and enjoying a family Thanksgiving dinner your sweet old Grandmother mentions that Microsoft called her cell phone and helped her with a virus on her computer. You explain to her that Microsoft does not call people directly to help with computer issues and that she was likely targeted by a malicious attacker. You scan her computer for viruses and find several. Your poor sweet old Grandmother was a victim of what type of attack?
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Gran' was a victim of a voice phishing or vishing attack. This is the term used when an attacker contacts the victim via phone and attempts to steal personal information or by tricking the user to install malware on their computer. They may claim to be from a valid tech support company or vendor such as Microsoft or as a bill collector from a local utility company or anything in between.
Wikipedia
Voice phishing, or vishing, is the use of telephony (often Voice over IP telephony) to conduct phishing attacks.
Landline telephone services have traditionally been trustworthy; terminated in physical locations known to the telephone company, and associated with a bill-payer. Now however, vishing fraudsters often use modern Voice over IP (VoIP) features such as caller ID spoofing and automated systems (IVR) to impede detection by law enforcement agencies. Voice phishing is typically used to steal credit card numbers or other information used in identity theft schemes from individuals.
Usually, voice phishing attacks are conducted using automated text-to-speech systems that direct a victim to call a number controlled by the attacker, however some use live callers. Posing as an employee of a legitimate body such as the bank, police, telephone or internet provider, the fraudster attempts to obtain personal details and financial information regarding credit card, bank accounts (e.g. the PIN), as well as personal information of the victim. With the received information, the fraudster might be able to access and empty the account or commit identity fraud. Some fraudsters may also try to persuade the victim to transfer money to another bank account or withdraw cash to be given to them directly. Callers also often pose as law enforcement or as an Internal Revenue Service employee. Scammers often target immigrants and the elderly, who are coerced to wire hundreds to thousands of dollars in response to threats of arrest or deportation.Bank account data is not the only sensitive information being targeted. Fraudsters sometimes
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