Again with the phishing! The FBI is warning of “new” attacks, called vishing, that are encouraging email recipients to call toll-free numbers which ultimately lead down a VoIP hole to an south Asian sweatshop where a young man will answer and read a real-sounding script asking for PINs, SSNs, and your tumescent girth. Urban legend or no, it’s something to warn your parents about.
A standard vishing attack might use a phone number connected to an answering machine to harvest data. A large-scale scamming operation, however, could theoretically employ several people to act as call-center workers—who might not even be aware that they’re in the employ of an illegal business operation.
Also, remember this the FBI warning us about vishing, so this probably all got popular in 2003 and they’re just getting around to putting out the memo. Again, friends, if someone is asking for your full SSN and bank card PIN, you’re probably getting scammed.
FBI warns that “vishing” attacks are on the rise [ArsTechnica]