UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN River Falls
Information Security
Your Social Security Number Was Suspended!
October 20, 2021
That sounds official. I better get that fixed up right away! WAIT!!
Voice phishing, or vishing, is any scam that begins with a phone call. Global loss due to telephone fraud is estimated to exceed $46 billion dollars this year. Recently, a staff member received two calls regarding her social security number being deactivated on the same day! In the first nine months of 2021, the federal trade commission reported $577 million in Covid related fraud, $5.7 million in Wisconsin alone - and that doesn’t include losses or events that went unreported!
Here are a few things you can do to protect yourself:
- Don’t give away information that a fraudster can use to build a profile. The more they know about you, the easier it is to get past your defenses. Don’t accept social media connections from people you don’t know, post personal information in social media posts, or participate in quizzes meant to gather information (you really don’t need to find out what princess you are!).
- Always be suspicious of requests for help, especially if it seems urgent. Whether it is a call from tech support of a shirt-tail relative, it is probably a scam.
- Never trust an email address or a phone number. Both are easy to spoof. I have even received fraudulent calls from my own number! If your boss emails you to pay an unpaid invoice, probably a scam. Give them a quick call to confirm.
- Offers and prizes are fake. Pretty much all the time. Even if it seems like a legitimate ad on social media, make sure you know the company and do your research before you click.
Be safe out there!
