Beware, voice phishing scam surfaces again

Banks advise customers not to reveal confidential account details to scamsters posing as bank representatives on the phone |

B anks in the UAE are warning customers of a new wave of ‘vishing’, or voice phishing, through which scamsters obtain confidential banking data over the phone.

“The UAE is being targeted by criminals using increasingly sophisticated methods to defraud individuals and companies. There have been several recent attempts by scammers to get bank customers’ confidential data through a form of fraud over the phone called ‘vishing’,” RAKBank said in an emailed statement.

In a typical voice phishing scam, fraudsters call up bank customers pretending to be either bank representatives, or representatives of popular brands. Victims are told that that they have won some prizes, or that their bank accounts and cards need to be upgraded.

The scammers then request the victims to provide confidential data about their bank accounts that is then used in fraudulent transactions.

Winning confidence

“In most cases, the scammers sound very professional and provide a convincing reason for calling customers. It’s important to highlight that the bank will never ask its customers to share any type of confidential information over the phone or via email,” RAKBank warned it’s customers through an SMS.

In recent weeks, other banks in the UAE also alerted their customers about such scams, asking them to protect their confidential banking data.

Bankers said that as ‘vishing’ hooks customers through a phone, whether it’s a land line or a mobile phone, it’s much harder for financial institution to detect. Vishing attacks are becoming more sophisticated and organised. Many fraudsters are understood to be employing criminal hackers.

“They are closely studying the financial software industry, the security industry, bringing in social psychologists and to look at everything to figure

out how to get your client base to fork up data. They are very good at it, and they are only going to get better,” said a security expert with a local bank.