Call centres told how to combat the Man-in-the-Phone

Banks are now being targeted by the next in a long line of fraudsters. The latest scam is being called ‘Man-in-The-Phone’.

In a typical call the fraudster poses as a call centre agent to tell the ‘victim’ that their account may be at risk and they should hold to confirm details. Most people should know by now that confirming details over the phone to an unknown source is a big no-no!

The fraudster then calls the real bank and connects the victim with his own phone muted. He listens as the victim tells the real bank their authentication details then quickly closes the conference line and tells the victim that the issue has been resolved.

Call centre agents should be trained to listen more closely and ask who originated the call. Attacks may be thwarted or losses minimised if agents ask simple (but random instead of static) security questions at various points in the conversation when confirming personal credentials. Fraudsters are less likely to trick customers into sharing answers to several security questions.