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Voice Phishing Scams Are Getting More Clever

krebsonsecurity.com

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Re: Voice Phishing Scams Are Getting More Clever

#71

Post by skh »

CodeCube wrote: post #25

This is 100% destroying the phone for younger generations ... my kids answer nothing, not even my own phone calls because they set their phones on do not disturb to curb the endless robo, scam, and cold calls. If it wasn't for https://hiya.com/ , I'd be at the end of my wits. Seems like the number of fake calls has ramped up exponentially in the last months. I finally just set it up completely block all telemarketing…

I suggest downloading a silent ring tone. I got one for a dollar. The silent ringtone is my default ringtone. I went into my contacts and changed the ringtone associated with them to be one that makes noise. I no longer am bothered by scam calls as a result.

Re: Voice Phishing Scams Are Getting More Clever

#72

Post by TrinaryWorksToo »

EamonnMR wrote: post #13
TrinaryWorksToo wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do we need a certificate authority for phone numbers now?

That would actually be a very good idea to cut down on number spoofing.

Yeah I figured as such. You could pass a hash to a certificate via caller ID

Re: Voice Phishing Scams Are Getting More Clever

#73

Post by craftyguy »

EamonnMR wrote: post #38
phkahler wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No options. Make it mandatory and make it unable to be faked.

It wouldn't really need to be mandatory, just something that cell providers and reputable businesses provided. Then phone companies could start rejecting anything that didn't provide it.

... so, make it mandatory

Re: Voice Phishing Scams Are Getting More Clever

#74

Post by andrewaylett »

jerf wrote: post #7

I'll give you the flip side of the scammer's deterioration of trust in the phone... a few months back I got a phone call from what appeared to be my bank, and they were asking me about a fraudulent charge that I didn't recognize. Worried that this was the beginning of a scam, I delayed a bit on the phone while I logged in independently to my bank account... and lo, yes, indeed, there was a fraudulent charge to my acc…

Tell them you'll call them back, and call the number on the back of your card -- even without a case number, there should only be a limited number of things wrong with your account and you probably want to fix all of them :).

Otherwise the next scam will be to put an obviously-fraudulent transaction on a card, then phish for the rest of your details so they can get cash, rather than just charge-backs.

Re: Voice Phishing Scams Are Getting More Clever

#75

Post by Retric »

walrus01 wrote: post #50
phkahler wrote: post #23

The problem here is the ability to spoof caller ID. This should not be possible. Regulations set up the phone system, regulations need to make this change. I don't care what excuse anyone has, don't care about your stupid PBX or any of that. Caller ID should be mandatory and reliable. Having said that, always assume someone calling you is a fraud. If your "bank" calls you, tell them you'll call back and don't call a…

There is no way to fix the ability to spoof caller ID with the way SS7 is built. Not without breaking functionality to something like 85% of the installed base of PBX and phone switch equipment, most of which is anywhere from 10 to 45 years old. The legacy telco SS7 phone system needs to be burnt to the ground and rebuilt, but it never will be, because people have moved on to friend-opt-in based message platforms lik…

I just want the major cellphone companies numbers to show up correctly and everything else can be ???. That does not require fixing all these other systems.

Re: Voice Phishing Scams Are Getting More Clever

#76

Post by tomjen3 »

skh wrote: post #71
CodeCube wrote: post #25

This is 100% destroying the phone for younger generations ... my kids answer nothing, not even my own phone calls because they set their phones on do not disturb to curb the endless robo, scam, and cold calls. If it wasn't for https://hiya.com/ , I'd be at the end of my wits. Seems like the number of fake calls has ramped up exponentially in the last months. I finally just set it up completely block all telemarketing…

I suggest downloading a silent ring tone. I got one for a dollar. The silent ringtone is my default ringtone. I went into my contacts and changed the ringtone associated with them to be one that makes noise. I no longer am bothered by scam calls as a result.

You can also (in Android, at any rate) set it to allow your favourites to by-pass it.

Re: Voice Phishing Scams Are Getting More Clever

#77

Post by mc32 »

phkahler wrote: post #23

The problem here is the ability to spoof caller ID. This should not be possible. Regulations set up the phone system, regulations need to make this change. I don't care what excuse anyone has, don't care about your stupid PBX or any of that. Caller ID should be mandatory and reliable. Having said that, always assume someone calling you is a fraud. If your "bank" calls you, tell them you'll call back and don't call a…

Speculating, but Would fixing that break things like dialing a local number which is answered overseas without a toll charge? Or is that separate?

Re: Voice Phishing Scams Are Getting More Clever

#78

Post by tomjen3 »

CWuestefeld wrote: post #39
techsupporter wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I usually laugh at them and tell them they they are the unverified party in this phone call, not me. This is one of the related reasons why I finally got my ducks in a row and switched away from Chase three years ago. Their potential-fraud-has-happened outreach department was, in my experience, terrible about this. It didn't help that their potential-fraud-detection department was similarly bad. ("You used your deb…

their potential-fraud-detection department was similarly bad. ("You used your debit card at an AM/PM in Washington State!!!!" Yes, I know, it is about 900 feet from my house; I go there regularly.) A year ago I had an awful experience with this. We were on vacation at Big Bend National Park, which is hours away from everything in southwest Texas. When trying to pay for breakfast, our card was denied. I tried to call…

Card fuckup is the only reason I have even a little cash on hand. Even the second hand store near me takes cards now. It is my policy if I am any distance from home to carry a spare car key, and enough cash to fill the tank and get home.

Considering that we could eliminate fraud with a private key chip card, this is really, really sad.

Re: Voice Phishing Scams Are Getting More Clever

#79

Post by walrus01 »

ghaff wrote: post #60
walrus01 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no way to fix the ability to spoof caller ID with the way SS7 is built. Not without breaking functionality to something like 85% of the installed base of PBX and phone switch equipment, most of which is anywhere from 10 to 45 years old. The legacy telco SS7 phone system needs to be burnt to the ground and rebuilt, but it never will be, because people have moved on to friend-opt-in based message platforms lik…

Yeah, it's hard not to think that basically rebuilding the entire phone system would be a massive case of fighting the last war. People won't stop needing the phone system entirely but it becomes a piece of quirky legacy technology. And probably just have to live with the fact that there will be situations where people are harder to reach quickly than they are today.

Rebuilding SS7 with new modern features, and making it talk natively to all the existing 10 to 50 year old SS7 equipment deployed in the world would basically be polishing the brass doorknobs on the titanic.

Re: Voice Phishing Scams Are Getting More Clever

#80

Post by emptybits »

skh wrote: post #71
CodeCube wrote: post #25

This is 100% destroying the phone for younger generations ... my kids answer nothing, not even my own phone calls because they set their phones on do not disturb to curb the endless robo, scam, and cold calls. If it wasn't for https://hiya.com/ , I'd be at the end of my wits. Seems like the number of fake calls has ramped up exponentially in the last months. I finally just set it up completely block all telemarketing…

I suggest downloading a silent ring tone. I got one for a dollar. The silent ringtone is my default ringtone. I went into my contacts and changed the ringtone associated with them to be one that makes noise. I no longer am bothered by scam calls as a result.

> I went into my contacts and changed the ringtone associated with them to be one that makes noise.

That gets the job done, but rather than modify each of your existing contacts (and each new one), consider just turning on Do No Disturb and setting your Do Not Disturb level to "Allow Calls From All Contacts" (or a particular Group or Favorites). These are iOS options but I assume there's an equivalent in Android.

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