Hackers are Using Phones to Steal Banking Data

Closeup of hands of young man in checkered shirt using mobile phone while his partners arguing

As many people rush to protect their data, hackers have begun to go deeper into their bags of tricks to get you to fork them over. A rising trend is hackers using phone calls to engineer their way into making you hand over your money and your personal information.

The way that they do it is simple. Through social engineering, they find out your bank and your credit card information. Then then they call you and tell you that something is wrong with your account and they need to ask several different questions including questions regarding your PIN. Banks DO NOT ask for your PIN number, the moment they do, you know it’s a scam. If you give them this information, your money is as good as theirs.[1]

The most important thing to do is to HANG up. Once they have your information, they will hack the account and drain you dry. Report to your respective banking and credit card institutions that fraud has occurred, and they should be able to lock the accounts down. In addition, be careful what you say on social media as hackers can easily use that information to their advantage.

 

 

[1] https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/27/business/phishing-bank-scam-trnd/index.html