How to protect yourself from Vishing Calls
At Viva Wallet, your safety is always our top priority and therefore, we feel obliged to instruct you on the new types of online fraud currently used by scammers. We would like you to carefully go through the instructions below, in order to protect yourself from cybercriminals, who may try to get access to your bank account.
What is Vishing?
‘’Vishing’’, a combination of the words ‘’Voice’’ and ‘’Phishing’’, is a very common phone scam. Usually, fraudsters will try to trick the victim into divulging personal, financial or security information or into transferring money to them.
To avoid falling victim to a Vishing scam, you have to be especially cautious if you receive an unsolicited phone call. Malicious actors rely on the fact that people are busy, unsuspecting, and may not understand that they are being scammed.
What can you do?
- If you receive such a call, don’t validate the caller using the number they have given you, as it could be a fake or a spoofed number.
- Take the caller’s number and advise them that you will call them back. In order to validate their identity, look up the organisation’s phone number and contact them directly.
The fraudster calling you may attempt to gain your trust by presenting some basic information about you, like your contact details. Don’t assume a caller is genuine just because they know such details, since fraudsters can find information about you online (e.g. social media):
- In no case should you share your credit or debit card details (PIN, card number, expiration date CVV) or your online banking password. Your bank will never ask for such details.
- Don’t ever transfer money to another account on the caller’s request. Your bank will never ask you to do so.
- For your safety, check your bank account regularly and report any suspicious activity to your bank and be very careful about how much personal information you share on social networking sites.
- Finally, if you think you have received a fraudulent phone call or have fallen victim to Vishing, contact your bank immediately.
