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Vishing: The Anatomy of a Vishing Scam

"A series of well-orchestrated wireless phone-based phishing attacks against several financial institutions last week illustrates how scam artists are growing more adept at fleecing consumers by exploiting security holes in seemingly unrelated Internet technologies.

The scams in this case took the form of a type of phishing known as "vishing," wherein cell-phone users receive a text message warning that their bank account has been closed due to suspicious activity, and that they need to call a provided phone number to reactivate the account. Victims who called the number reached an automated voice mail box that prompted callers to key in their credit card number, expiration date and PIN to verify their information (the voice mail systems involved in these sorts of scams usually are run off of free or low-cost Internet-based phone networks that are difficult to trace and shut down)." – Content courtesy of The Anatomy of a Vishing Scam – Security Fix