Time for our Black Friday post! We need to be prepared an increase in phishing and other forms of attacks in the period starting on Thanksgiving shopping season and going through Christmas and the New Year. Today’s is one of those I would be watching out for: offering a loan.
Scams in general, and phishing specifically, do not only come in emails. In fact, we have already talked about phishing using a text message and by phone (they left a voicemail). Today’s example is more of the latter. Instead of impersonating the Federal Trade Commission, we have, well, something!
No longer wish to proceed. Please. Feel free to let us know as well. When you give us a call back. Make sure to mention your application ID just for a faster process. Your application ID is a is an apple, H as in Hotel, C is in zebra 34578. Once again, that number is a as an apple, H as in hotel C, is in zebra 34578. And also just a reminder. My number is 877-867-5139. I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you so much and have a wonderful day.
The recorded voicemail (I made a mp3 version of it), may be better than my lousy transcribing skills.
How do I know this is phishing call?
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The first clue is: were you shopping for loans? If not, stop right there, and delete the message. The idea of this scam is: who would not want some extra money to spend on gifts to the loved ones? Sounds inviting, right? But, if you were planning for that, shouldn’t you be talking to your bank or some company you researched instead of just answering a voicemail from who knows what?
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The second clue is the phone number. I will let you on a hint: whenever I see a phone number I do not know, I do not just call them back with my credit card and driver’s license in hand. I search for the phone number online to see if I can find if the company they claim to be really is who they are. In this case, I searched for
877-867-5139and found an entry with the Better Business Bureay about them which says this scammer is claiming the person she is calling (who we affectionally call the Clueless Phish) applied for a loan with them. I know as a fact the person who submitted this phishy entry has not applied for loans in years. I also find interesting the person reporting that to BBB did so on November 20, 2024. That would indicate this is not an isolated attack.
If you cannot find the number after searching online, assume it is not legitimate. If they claim to come from a company you have heard of (Microsoft, FTC, American Expess, IRS, etc), you can always look their number up in their official website.
As always, not matter what the voicemail is about, do not just call them back. Let your brain do some thinking. And then do some investigating.