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Be Aware of VoIP phishing attacks

Preventing VoIP Scams and Phishing

Avoiding VoIP phishing attacks.

Many people have heard that having VoIP can save you lots of money in telecommunication cost, but did you know that VoIP also makes phishing cheaper for the scammers? In a particular scam, phishers are sending e-mails to individuals asking them to dial a number on their phone and then enter in personal information to get to their financial information. In the article Phishing Attacks Cast Shadow over VoIP, Cloudmark, a provider of messaging security solutions, warns that "VoIP services can reduce the costs associated with conducting such attacks, providing the perpetrators with less risk of discovery." By using new technologies, Cloudmark has been able to identify and block these "spoofed-number attacks."

In a VoIP phishing attack, the phone system identifies itself to the target as the financial institution and prompts them to enter account number and PIN. The result can be personally financially devastating. Adam J. O'Donnell, Ph.D., senior research scientist at Cloudmark, has said he's seen two separate VoIP attacks hit their network this week. In these attacks, the target receives an e-mail, ostensibly from their bank, telling them there is an issue with their account and to dial a number to resolve the problem. Callers are then connected over VoIP to a PBX (private branch exchange) running an IVR system that sounds exactly like their own bank's phone tree, directing them to specific extensions.

To make sure you do not fall victim to one of these phishing attempts, do not call any numbers that you receive in e-mails. If you feel that an e-mail request may be legitimate, look up the phone number of the company from a trusted source and call that number to check on the legitimacy of the request.