After scams by email or SMS, cybercriminals now want to recover your data in order to access your bank accounts.
You knew “phishing”, now beware of “vishing”. Unlike phishing, where cybercriminals try to recover personal data through fraudulent links sent by email or SMS, it is directly via a phone call that vishing enthusiasts want to deceive you.
Vishing is the contraction of “voice” (voice) and phishing (phishing). This new scam is particularly subtle, as detailed The Parisian. On the phone, the interlocutors will generally alert you to suspicious movements on your bank accounts. Pressed by the situation, the victim falls into the trap by providing personal information on his account or validating transactions himself.
Thousands of euros stolen
If this new method is proliferating, it is because it is surfing on the multiplication of data thefts. With more and more cyberattacks, it has never been easier to recover information on potential targets. So many elements to put the victim in confidence, by reminding him of his name, his date of birth, or his postal address.
Today, a credit card number is currency between 3.5 and 20 euros, indicates the daily. Bank details can be bought for 80 to 120 euros. And shopping is all about browsing the dark web or chatting with the right person on Telegram, the end-to-end encrypted messaging app. With a very attractive return on investment.
“Each victim is robbed of between a few thousand and tens of thousands of euros”, specifies Jean-Jacques Latour, the director of cybersecurity expertise at cybermalveillance.gouv.frnearby Parisian.
Often on weekends and Friday evenings
This victim support platform was set up as part of the new digital security strategy. Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr celebrated its fifth anniversary in December 2022, and has received more than 600.00 requests for aid.
Regarding vishing, 1500 potential victims have already been identified. The platform published Thursday, January 19 a briefing note specific to this new scam, which it calls “fake bank advisor fraud”.
This guide provides advice on how to avoid falling into the trap. For his part, Jean-Jacques Latour observes that fraud attempts take place “often on weekends or Friday evenings to avoid any checks with your bank”.
But in order to avoid any scam, the French Banking Federation reminded the Parisian that an advisor never asks for personal information related to a bank account. Whether by phone, text or email.
