Have you heard of anyone complain that they’ve received a weird phone call asking them to do something personal? Or have you heard of the increased amount of AI being used to imitate loved ones over calls? This is in fact a form of social engineering or in more simple terms-phishing. Although it might be different to the phishing you’ve heard refer to emails or text messages. It is called vishing as it uses a voice to trick you. The point of the call is to convince you to share personal details such as your card number, bank account number, password etc., typically anything needed to take your money. The way it functions is that the scammers introduce a situation in which you feel completely compelled to give your details. Examples include your bank calling you and telling you something is wrong with your account, a government official in need of your details. Due to your emotions, you might give in and not even realise. There are ways to deal with this though. Any call you get, whoever they are introducing themselves as know that the real callers would never ask you for money in the first place. If you have doubts and you think, for example- that this is really a bank employee- you can ask them for their name and official number or google the bank number and call to check if they require anything from you. If the caller is introducing themselves as a loved one in urgent need of help, you can call the loved one to see where they are and what they are doing. It is important to stay calm and alert. Key things to remember in any case are: – never give away personal information, passwords, bank account numbers – never use prepaid or gift cards if they ask you, this is often used in scams – never give remote access to your computer If you do happen to receive any such call or fall for it, your next steps should be to report it. By doing so you will prevent the same scammers from scamming other people. Sources: ● Learning Center. (n.d.). What Is a Vishing Attack | Examples & Prevention | Imperva. [online] Available at: https://www.imperva.com/learn/application-security/vishing-attack/. ● Crowdstrike.com. (2019). Vishing: Definition and Prevention | CrowdStrike. [online] Available at: https://www.crowdstrike.com/en-us/cybersecurity-101/social-engineering/vishing-attack/. ● White, M. (2025). AI vishing: Mastering the art of voice deception. [online] Specops Software. Available at: https://specopssoft.com/blog/ai-vishing-voice-deception/. prevedi na srpski
