Social War Dialing: A New Identity Theft Scam. How To Protect Yourself

Identity thieves and fraudsters constantly develop new ways to trick consumers into revealing their sensitive personal data and financial information. WindowsITPro described the latest scam:

"... called Social War Dialing also known as “Vishing”. Like its cousin Phishing, this con attempts to talk unsuspecting victims out of their account numbers, passwords, etc. However instead of using email or the computer which many of us have been trained to not trust, they use the good ole telephone... Those picking up the phone hear a prerecorded message from their friendly local community bank that their account has been compromised. They need to change their PIN code immediately to avoid any unauthorized charges. They are directly via a menu to enter their account number, their old PIN and a new PIN. Of course, this isn’t the bank calling but rather a sophisticated overseas ID theft gang using VOIP technology. Caller ID shows the name of the bank giving further credibility to the attacker. Once they have the card number and PIN, they can quickly generate a fake ATM or debit card and start either withdrawing cash or making purchases."

Variations of this scam use text messaging via cellphones and smartphones. The scam also targets consumers who are not familiar with computers and Internet. Experts advise consumers to hang up and direct dial your bank or financial institution to verify the phone call. Do not respond to the call by entering your bank account information. Do not rely on Caller ID to verify the caller's identity. hang up and call your bank to verify if they called you.