What is spoofing, a trending scam in Mexico: your cell phone shows you that your bank is calling you, but in reality it is not

In an increasingly connected world, cyber scams are constantly evolving, and in Mexico, a worrying trend has gained ground: spoofing.

As Xataka explains in a report, this cunning technique consists of trick victims by impersonating their identity in phone calls. Although it may seem like an expert game, spoofing is surprisingly accessible to those with bad intentions.

From calling your bank’s name to posing as friends on your contact list, this form of scam has been going unnoticed in the country. But how exactly does spoofing work and what can we do to protect ourselves?

How does spoofing work?

The timing of the scam can be as common as a phone call. An example illustrates this: Alejandra receives an apparently legitimate call from her bank, with the phone number of her financial institution reflected in her identifier. She fully trusts this information and responds.

In the other side, a kind voice informs you about an unusual movement in your account and the urgency to protect it. Alejandra, confident in the number she sees on her screen, you follow the instructions, provide sensitive data, and within minutes, you are faced with an unauthorized transfer.

Spoofing, or identity theft, is a technique that is applied to various media, including telephone calls. In this case, the scammer uses deliberate falsification of the information that appears on the recipient’s caller ID. To make it, the criminal must know precise information about his victim, such as the bank with which he has an account, his full name and even some digits of his card. The key lies in the trust that victims place in the legitimate appearance of the phone number on the screen.

Recommendations to protect yourself from spoofing

Information displayed by caller ID should not be relied upon entirely. Avoiding spoofing means not providing personal or sensitive information on an incoming call, regardless of whether the number appears to be from a bank, insurer, or other financial institution.

Passwords, keys, PINs, card security codes and tokens are examples of data that should never be shared during a call.to.

Despite being a relatively unknown scam technique in Mexico and other countries, spoofing is a real and growing threat. Even large companies, with teams dedicated to cybersecurity, have fallen for it. Awareness efforts by the Banking Association and other institutions have been present, but more people need to understand and protect themselves against this deceptive technique.