Vishing Scam Alert!

Cybercriminals use different tactics other than just phishing email scams. One of those tactics is phishing attacks by phone call called vishing scams. The latest vishing scam appears to be coming from the law enforcement agency of the European Union called Europol. Cybercriminals have may tricks up their sleeves and actually are using software to hide their real phone numbers and make a Europol number display on caller IDs.

This scam is trying to make you panic and trigger your impulse actions into giving the cybercriminals your personal information. They start off with an automated message claiming that your personal information has been leaked and to press 1 to continue. When you decide to continue you then are transferred to a real person who seems nice and acts like they are really trying to help you. Don’t be fooled! The person claims they can only help if you give them your name, address, and id number. Anything you say to them will be leaked to the cybercriminals.

Tips:

• If you did not initiate the call, don’t provide any personal information.
• Be cautious with caller id numbers. Cybercriminals love to spoof numbers to make it look like it’s a number you can trust.
• When in doubt hang up! If you are unsure it’s a legit call hangup, look up the number of the organization that tried to call you and call them directly. Never call back the number that just called you if you think it’s a fraud!

Learn more tips like this and train your employees with our Security Awareness Training Program.

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