What You Need to Know About Vishing Scam, and Why You Need an IT Consulting Partner in Los Angeles to Prevent It

Vishing is a practice of deception on the phone that IT consulting professionals in Los Angeles can defend against, much like email phishing scams. Surveys among businesses have found that nearly a third of all incoming mobile calls to businesses are characterized as vishing. Here's a brief look at how vishing works and can be mitigated.

Vishing Scam Components

Vishing uses high-tech elements such as automated voice simulation. The attacker may try to use collected information about the victim to trick them into thinking it's a friendly encounter. The attack then follows a similar sequence as an email phishing scam. The process is known as "social engineering", in which a scammer plans a long-term attack over a period of several months. The attacker develops a relationship that amounts to trust with the victim.

The attacker tries to collect sensitive information during this social engineering process. The reason vishing can be more dangerous than phishing is that a human voice can be more trustworthy than an email. The more familiar the friendly voice becomes, the more targets let down their guard. Recent vishing victim surveys indicate that vishers are quite successful at learning personal information about them during the social engineering process.

Vishing is a form of VoIP spam, as vishers favor VoIP services, since they allow them to automate their scams and make it difficult for investigators to trace. The main goals of these criminals are to either learn confidential information or trick victims into paying them directly. A primary technique called "wardialing" involves leaving thousands of automated messages designed to deceive or scare victims in some way, such as impersonating the IRS.

How IT Experts Help

Working with an experienced IT consulting team in Los Angeles will keep you updated on the types of scams that are developing across business networks. A knowledgeable IT team can share valuable insights on spotting frauds online or on the phone. Key tips for avoiding vishers are:

• don't trust caller ID and
• never pay with a gift card or wire transfer

Many businesses still assume that if they've never been attacked, they must be doing fine with security measures. But scams have increased dramatically in recent years to the point where any business can be attacked. IT experts can help you build plenty of security layers so that this problem does not sidetrack your business.

Conclusion

It's a good idea to build a strong defense against various forms of attacks. Choosing to partner with a Los Angeles IT support company is an effective way to block scammers of all types. Get in touch with us at DCG Technical Solutions, Inc. for more information about protecting your digital resources. Our IT consulting team in Los Angeles is ready to serve you!