Beware Of Phone Scam Trends On TikTok Like Vishing, Here's Advice From Cybersecurity Experts

Voice Phishing (Vishing) is a new trend on TikTok, similar to an online fraud scheme (photo: iStock)

JAKARTA - Cybersecurity expert Kaspersky recently paid attention to a viral trend on TikTok. Where someone calls their friend using the voice of an auto-answering machine and spoofs that a large sum of money will be withdrawn from the concerned financial account.

Kaspersky said that the trend is similar to this scam scheme called Vishing (Voice Phishing). According to his research, from March to June 2022, experts found approximately 350,000 vising emails.

Vishing is a fraudulent tactic by convincing someone to call an online fraudster and share personal information, such as bank details over the phone.

To protect yourself from vishing, Kaspersky recommends the following:

Check the sender's email address. Most spam emails come from addresses that are not clearly written, for example [email protected] or the like. By checking the sender's name, which may be misspelled, you can see the full email address. If you're not sure the email is genuine or fake, check the search engines. Consider the requested information. Authorized companies do not contact you suddenly via email and ask for personal data such as account or credit card details, identity numbers or other sensitive data. In general, messages that suddenly appear asking you to “verify account details” or “update your account information” should be treated with caution. If the message contains urgent context, be careful. Fraudsters or spammers usually use these tactics to make victims feel cornered. For example, the email title might contain the words “urgent” or “immediate action required” to make the victim feel compelled to take action. Checking grammar and spelling is an effective way to spot fraudsters. Wrong spelling or poor grammar is a sign. Likewise, strange words or odd sentences, which could be the result of repeated e-mail translations into various languages. Install a trusted security product and follow its recommendations. Safe solutions will solve various problems automatically and provide alerts when needed.