# What is Vishing?

> Vishing, short for voice phishing, is phishing conducted through a live or recorded voice interaction, including telephone calls and voice messages.

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- Language: en
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## Content

The caller impersonates a trusted person or organization, or presents another deceptive story, to obtain information, money, account changes, or security actions. The voice channel defines vishing; caller identification, accent, fluency, or a familiar-sounding voice does not establish identity.

Calls may use spoofed numbers, information gathered about the target, or synthetic and replayed audio. Some attacks begin with a text or email and use a phone conversation to add credibility, urgency, or instructions that evade message filtering.

### Key points

- **Verification:** End the call and reconnect through a known number or official channel, then confirm the person and request independently before disclosing information or taking a sensitive action.
- **Process controls:** Require separate approval for payments, account recovery, credential resets, remote-access installation, and changes to contact or banking details, regardless of the caller’s apparent authority.
- **Response:** Record the time, displayed number, claimed identity, and requested action; notify the relevant organization promptly and review affected accounts or transactions without confronting the caller.
- **Important limitation:** Call screening, caller identification, voice familiarity, and staff training can all help, but none reliably authenticates a caller; controls should assume that a convincing voice interaction may still be fraudulent.

### Related terms

[Phishing](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/phishing/>) · [Social engineering](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/social-engineering/>) · [Smishing](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/smishing/>) · [Pretexting](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/pretexting/>) · [Business email compromise (BEC)](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/business-email-compromise/>)

### Sources

[Canadian Centre for Cyber Security: Voice phishing](https://www.cyber.gc.ca/en/what-voice-phishing-vishing-itsap00102) · [US Federal Trade Commission: Avoid government impersonation scams](https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-avoid-government-impersonation-scam)

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