what do vishing and smishing refer to?
Vishing and smishing are both types of social engineering scams used to steal your money or personal data, but they use different communication channels to trick you.
Quick Scoop
- Vishing (voice phishing):
- Uses phone calls, voicemail, or VoIP calls.
- Scammer pretends to be a bank, tech support, government, or company and pressures you to share card numbers, passwords, or one-time codes, or to make a payment.
* Common angles: “fraud on your account,” “tax/police issue,” “your computer is infected; let me remote in.”
- Smishing (SMS phishing):
- Uses SMS/text messages or messaging apps.
- Message contains a malicious link or phone number and claims things like package delivery issues, bank alerts, prize wins, or account lockouts to get you to click or reply with sensitive data.
* The term combines “SMS” and “phishing.”
Side-by-side view
| Aspect | Vishing | Smishing |
|---|---|---|
| Main channel | Voice calls / VoIP / voicemail. | [8][2]SMS or text messages. | [5][7][3]
| Goal | Get you to say or enter sensitive info or make a payment during a call. | [2][8]Get you to click a link, install malware, or send back personal/financial info. | [1][3][5]
| Typical pretext | Bank security, tech support, government/legal threats, urgent “verification” calls. | [8][2]Delivery problems, bank alerts, fake login pages, “you won a prize” messages. | [9][3][1]
| Key pressure tactic | Real‑time urgency and authority in the caller’s voice. | [2][8]Short, urgent text with a time‑sensitive link or instruction. | [3][5][9]
How to protect yourself
- Slow down and verify
- Hang up and call back using the official number from your bank card, app, or government website, not the number that contacted you.
* For texts, open your bank or delivery app directly instead of tapping links in the message.
- Red flags to watch for
- Requests for passwords, full card numbers, PINs, or one-time codes (legitimate organizations repeatedly say they will not ask for these).
* Spelling mistakes, odd URLs, extreme urgency (“act in 10 minutes or your account is closed”), or threats of arrest or fines.
- Practical defenses
- Enable multi-factor authentication and account alerts so unexpected changes are easier to spot.
* Use your phone’s spam/unknown caller filters and report suspicious texts or calls to your provider or relevant authorities when possible.
In short, vishing uses a voice to push you into revealing secrets on a call, while smishing uses a text to lure you into clicking or replying with those secrets.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.