Social engineering and identity theft

Social engineering and identity theft over the phone is when someone from a certain company calls you and informs you that you owe them money so you have to give them your credit card number information for payments. Some would threaten you that they will pass you to a credit bureau if you do not pay them.

Others will try to get vital information about you like your social security number. Hackers use this method to get passwords and information that should not be shared to just anyone.

Spam, identity theft and social engineering are so closely linked that they often employ many of the same tactics to gather information. Attackers may even use a combination of all three techniques to compromise data belonging to organizations, individual, or break into networks and computers belonging to victims.

Spam in particular is often used for social engineering and identity theft purposes. The fraudulent use of corporate names and logos in unsolicited e-mail to fool people into divulging information has become so common it’s been given the name “phishing”.

If you receive this type of call, get the callers name, company number and tell them that you will call them to check. Then call the toll free number of the company and inform them about it.

Click here and get more information on filing a complaint.