📞 Phone Scams (Vishing)

Scammers spoof caller ID to pose as banks, agencies, or companies — creating urgency and pushing you to share codes, make payments, or allow remote access.

Use this page to be prepared for phone scams — what they sound like, how they work, and the steps to stay safe.

🔗 Trusted Resources

FCC — Caller ID Spoofing — What spoofing is and what you can do.
🌐 https://www.fcc.gov/spoofing ↗️

FTC — How to Recognize Imposter Scams — Government, business, and family emergency impostors.
🌐 https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-avoid-scam ↗️

Social Security (SSA) — Scam Alerts — Official contact rules and reporting.
🌐 https://www.ssa.gov/scam ↗️

IRS — Tax Scams / Consumer Alerts — How IRS really contacts you (and how they don’t).
🌐 https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-scams-consumer-alerts ↗️

🧭 Recognizing & Responding Safely

Hang up. Call back using the number on your statement or official website.

Never relay verification codes. Banks and agencies won’t ask for one-time codes.

Ignore caller ID. Spoofed names/numbers are common; rely on independent verification.

Report robocalls and spoofed calls to the FCC. Add your number to the Do Not Call Registry — it won’t stop scammers, but it reduces legitimate marketing calls, making scams easier to spot.

📌 Sam’s Tips

The more urgent the call, the more likely it’s a scam.

Codes and passwords are never spoken over the phone.

Ending the call is your superpower. You can always verify later.

📞 Quick example

A caller claims to be from your bank’s “Fraud Department.” They say: “We detected suspicious charges. Read me the two verification codes we just texted you so I can stop the transaction.”

Stop — banks never ask for one-time passcodes over the phone.
Investigate — caller ID says your bank’s name, but spoofing makes this meaningless.
Find better coverage — searching “bank code scam” shows identical scripts used in account-takeover fraud.
Trace — logging into your real bank app shows no alerts, and the text message itself warns: “Do not share this code with anyone.”

Conclusion

This call fails verification. The request for your 2FA codes and the spoofed caller ID match known account-takeover scams.

Why

• No legitimate bank or agency asks for verification codes by phone.
• Spoofed caller ID makes the call appear official.
• Attackers use your code to reset passwords and lock you out of your own accounts.
• Your real bank shows no alerts, confirming this is a social-engineering attempt.

Bottom line:
If someone calls asking for a code, hang up and call your bank using the number on the back of your card.