pp.
Attempting to fool a person into submitting personal, financial, or password data either by sending an email message that includes a scammer-controlled phone number, or by spoofing an automated phone call from a financial institution using the voice-over-IP system. [Blend of voice and phishing.]
—vish v.
—visher n.
Example Citations:
Ever get an e-mail prompting you to change your banking password? ...
This particular fraud is called "vishing" and is on the increase.
Scam artists are always trying new ways to get your personal information. Vishing operations try to persuade consumers to divulge PIN numbers, claiming accounts have been was suspended, deactivated or terminated.
Recipients of the scam e-mails are directed to contact their bank via a telephone number provided. Upon calling the telephone number, the recipient is greeted with "Welcome to the bank of ...." and then instructed to enter account information in order to resolve a pending security issue.
—"Awash in bureaucracy," The Kansas City Star, November 6, 2008
According to the FBI, there is a sudden rash of vishing across the country, the BBB reported in a release. "Vishing" is the term for automated calls or text messages to phones and cell phones with the specific goal of gaining personal information for the purposes of identity theft. "Phishing" is when the scam is perpetrated by e-mail.
In the calls, or text messages, residents are warned that their accounts will be closed or have been used improperly and they are told to call a 24-hour number to reactivate it. Callers are then asked to punch in their debit card numbers and their personal identification numbers.
—Sharon Dunn, "BBB, banks warn about 'vishing' scam hitting Weld residents," Greeley Tribune, December 9, 2008
Earliest Citation:
As predicted in our circles last year, here is a documented Vishing case. The wave file does not have a heavy Russian accent attached, but it is interesting.
—Gadi Evron, " Vishing: Santa Barbara Trust (Voice or Phone Phishing): http://blogs.securiteam.com/index.php/archives/467," SecuriTeam, June 23, 2006
Related Words:
Categories:
New words. 2013.