“Vishing,” or voice fishing, is when scammers send out fraudulent calls or voicemails to hoodwink people into giving up their personal information or money.

Avoiding a vishing scam is easy if you know the warning signs! Here are some of the most common vishing scenarios to watch out for:

• Car Warranty Scams. Most of us are familiar with this kind of scam caller, claiming that they’ve been trying to contact you about an extended warranty offer for your car. If you decide to purchase the phony offer, the scammers will disappear with your money and sensitive information.  
  
  Vishing scammers are also known to impersonate representatives from an official agency, like the Department of Motor Vehicles. They threaten legal action if you don’t return their call about your car’s supposed expired warranty.
  
  
• Social Security or Medicare Scam. Phone calls are one of the best ways to reach older adults. That’s why fraudsters impersonate Medicare or Social Security representatives, trying to get financial information or Medicare numbers. They’ll claim there is a problem with your Social Security Number that needs to be resolved immediately, and threaten arrest if you don’t cough up your info.
  
  
• “Your Account has been Compromised” Scam. In this scenario, the vishing scammer will call and claim that your bank account has been hacked or otherwise compromised. Usually, they’ll ask for information like your account details or Social Security Number in order to “verify your identity.”
  
  If this happens to you, hang up and call the official phone number for your bank or financial institution to confirm that your bank account is safe.
  
  
• IRS Impersonator Scams. IRS phone scammers can use all kinds of scare tactics to steal information. Commonly, they will leave a prerecorded message on your voicemail saying that something is wrong with your tax return, and if you don’t give them the information they need immediately they’ll issue a warrant for your arrest.
  

To avoid being the victim of a vishing scam, we recommend that you never give your personal information to an unknown entity over the phone.

Additionally, do not answer calls from unknown or unexpected numbers. Even if you don’t give them any information, interacting with a spam call will keep you on scammers’ lists of potential targets.

If you have any questions, or believe you are the victim of a financial scam, don’t hesitate to contact CoreFirst Bank & Trust and report the scam with the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-382-4357 or www.ftc.gov.