Identity theft continues to work and work, day after day. It’s one of those things that never stops and now the people behind identity theft now are working with VoIP. What the scammer does is registers a new VoIP number and shows it as a company number. They then send out a phishing email (or vishing as it is now known). The person receiving the email calls the number, gives their details and they just were subject of identity theft.
VoIP numbers are easy to get. Companies such as Skype, Vonage and others can easily give out numbers. When I ordered a new Vonage line number I seem to remember the new number being available minutes later. This quick turn around of purchasing and being supplied with your details is where the problems occur. A scammer can quickly register, send out emails, receive calls with details, be then found and cut off. At that point it’s too late though.
Who’s fault is this? Some say the credit card companies make it too easy to obtain details and systems they put in place can be easily copied. Others blame the VoIP service providers for allowing numbers to be too easily obtainable and with not much details about the person who is getting the number.
At the end of the day you need to take responsibility your self. Phishing scams hit us several times a day. The basic rule of the thumb is to not click any links in an email or call any numbers in an email. If you get a Paypal email telling you to call then you log on to the Paypal.com site (no clicking links) and log in the correct way. If there is an issue, it will tell you. Take care and be smart.
