Common features a vishing call might include:

• Automated message on the phone call.

• Pretending to be a telemarketing company.

• The attacker might hold some personal information which is used to convince a potential target into believing their false identity.

• The attacker calling will usually ask for immediate action from your end, and might suggest that they are the only ones who can solve your problem.

• They might pretend to be calling on behalf of a government agency or a bank in order to gain the target’s trust.

• Vishing calls can be extremely convincing. The caller can also produce fake identification cards through text message to prove their fake identity.

• Vishers use an urgent tone to extract information as soon as possible before we can begin suspecting.

• The attacker may call in the guise of providing “tech support” to you through pop up ads on your laptop, or through SMS notifications on mobile phones, tricking people into calling them for support. The visher will ask for you to download an app, e.g. “TeamViewer”, so that they can gain control of your phone screen.