BENGALURU: Family members should use code words when discussing money transfers over phone calls to avoid falling victim to voice-cloning scams, Anindita Mishra, master trainer of CyberPeace, said during the workshop on ‘The Psychology of Scams’, organised by the CyberPeace Foundation and the Google Safety Engineering Centre under the banner “CyberPeace First Responder Workshop and Myth Buster” on Friday. The workshop participants were educated on various topics, including their rights and legal remedies.
Scammers first target victims using information gathered from social media and other sources. They then create a sense of urgency, fear, or greed through fabricated stories and pressure tactics, which often results in victims losing money.
Mishra explained the social engineering techniques used by scammers, such as phishing, where fraudsters deceive individuals into revealing sensitive information by impersonating a trusted entity; smishing, in which scammers use deceptive text messages to trick victims into revealing sensitive information or downloading malicious software; and vishing, where scammers use phone calls or voice messages to deceive victims.