The recent increase in smishing and vishing schemes is prompting me to remind readers of schemes designed to trick users into providing credentials to perpetrate fraud. We have previously written on phishing, smishing, vishing, and QRishing schemes to increase awareness about these methods of intrusion.

HC3 recently warned the health care sector about vishing schemes designed to impersonate employees in order to access financial systems. See previous blog on this topic here.

The City of New York was recently forced to take its payroll system down for more than a week after a smishing scheme that was designed to steal employees’ pay. The attack targeted the city’s Automated Personnel System Employee Self Service users. The threat actor sent fake text messages with multi-factor authentication to employees with a link to insert their self-service credentials, including usernames, passwords, and copies of driver’s licenses. The scheme was designed to steal the information so the payroll system could be accessed in order to divert payroll to the threat actor’s account. 

Phishing, vishing, smishing, and QRishing continue to be successful ways for threat actors to perpetrate fraud. Applying a healthy dose of paranoia whenever you receive any request for credentials, whether by email, phone, text or through a QR code is warranted and wise.