Here is a list of things you can (or should) do to fight phishing of any type, especially VoIP phishing:
- Awareness. Awareness. Awareness. This is the strongest weapon you can have. Now that you have it, reading this article, share it with others.
- Never give any personal information on phone. If, for any reason, you need to provide your personal information, it is safer (and more professional) to walk to the office or bank for it. Besides, all the popular online companies like PayPal, eBay and other institutions like banks etc., clearly warn users through their websites or other ways that they never ask for any personal information on email or automated phone calls. This should make it a lot easier to tell phishing attacks out. If you have any doubt, never hesitate to phone the company concerned and ask. Make sure you are speaking to a real human being, as many vishing attacks are done via automated phone calls.
- If you have a PBX in your organization, see to it that its call manager software filters and detects suspicious calls like repeated ones from outside numbers scanning your internal phone numbers. When buying the PBX software, look for anti-phishing features.
- If you are in an organization, devise policies and awareness programs concerning vishing. Assign one knowledgeable person the responsibility of handling suspicious cases from employees.
- Finally, if you suspect or are sure of a phishing case, you can bring the culprits to justice by reporting suspicious messages (email and voicemail) to one or all of the following:
- The Anti-Phishing Working Group at the following email address: reportphishing@antiphishing.org
- The FBI at www.ic3.gov, which is the site for the Crime Complaint Center.
- The Federal Trade Commission at the following email address: spam@uce.gov
