Vishing

Vishing is voice phishing: fraudulent phone calls or voicemails in which attackers impersonate trusted organizations or people to steal information, money or account access.

Vishing callers often pose as the Canada Revenue Agency, a bank's fraud department, a police officer, a utility company or your own IT help desk. They use urgency and authority to pressure victims into revealing passwords, approving sign-in requests, installing remote access software or sending payments. Caller ID can be spoofed, and some attackers now use AI-generated voices that imitate real people.

For Alberta businesses, a vishing call to a receptionist or bookkeeper can lead to stolen credentials or a fraudulent wire transfer. Attackers sometimes pair a phishing email with a follow-up call to make the scam more believable.

Practical tip: train staff to hang up and call back using a number from your own records or an official website. Your IT provider should never ask for a password over the phone, and staff should never approve a multi-factor prompt because a caller asked them to. Report fraud attempts to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.