Beware of vishing scam, warns bank
Avoid giving your confidential information to people over the phone.
There are many scams out there to con us out of our money, let it be a long lost relative who has died and left us millions or lotto winnings that we have mysteriously and unknowingly entered.
The latest scam, involved our banks and its called vishing. According to Standard Bank, you will recieve a phone call from a person pretending to be a bank representative who will ask for your information by claiming that they are verifying your details or assisting to resolve a problem with your bank account. “In some cases, you receive an unverified SMS saying that the bank will soon be in touch to update or confirm your details, and then you receive the call,” said the article.
READ: City of Durban decries fake jobs scam
How to identify a Visher: The scammer will tell you that if you fail to upgrade, verify or confirm your personal account information, access to your account will be suspended. You are now probably panicking and not given time to think and so just hand over your info.
The Standard Bank has provided tips on how to not fall victim of vishing:
- Avoid giving your confidential information over the phone
- Do not rely on call line identification (CID) alone to authenticate a caller. Criminals spoof CID numbers. They may appear to be calling from a legitimate company or a local number even when they’re not in the same country as you.
- Manage your bank account activities by ensuring that you are receiving payment notifications. To activate this service, call 0860 123 107.
- Should you receive a phone call requesting confidential or personal information, do not compromise your information and rather end the call.
- Does the email request personal information? If so, do not reply.If you lose network reception on your cellphone, immediately check with your network service provider (you could be a victim of a SIM swap scam).
