Vishing Explained: Voice Phishing and How to Stop It

A senior finance manager receives a voicemail from someone who sounds and acts like his CEO. The voicemail says, “I’m tied up in a meeting. Transfer $150,000 to the vendor account right away. Details sent to you via secure chat.” The manager wires the funds, and later discovers that the “CEO” was an AI‑cloned voice, the caller ID spoofed, and the money gone.

This voice phishing, or vishing attack, has become a priority risk for organizations. It exploits a channel we instinctively trust and uses voice cloning, spoofed IDs, and open‑source intelligence (OSINT) to create highly credible impersonations. 

Over 30% of vishing targets fall victim to the scam. For security teams and business leaders, this means that the threat surface is expanding from email and SMS into the human‑voice realm—and it’s highly effective.

What is vishing, and why is it growing?

Vishing is a voice-based social engineering attack using calls or voicemails that impersonate someone trustworthy. Their goal is to trick the target into giving up sensitive information, approving a payment, or downloading malware. 

Unlike smishing (SMS phishing) and email phishing scams—which you can take your time to inspect—a phone call creates immediacy and a sense of trust in the voice.

Phone scams aren’t new, but several factors have emerged, changing the threat landscape: 

1. Vishing scammers, finding email filters and traditional phishing defenses increasingly mature, pivot toward channels perceived as more “human.”
2. Advances in artificial intelligence and voice cloning make impersonation far easier and more realistic.
3. Organizations are doing more high‑value transactions remotely (vendor payments, approvals, etc.), making each phone call or voicemail a potential risk event.
4. Regulatory and reputational exposure has elevated human‑risk management as a core cyber risk.

Given these dynamics, security awareness programs are forced to up their game. As of 2023, over a fourth of adults had been exposed to AI voice scams. That number is growing, and financial information is increasingly at risk.

These social engineering attacks also target personal data, impersonating government agencies (such as the IRS), gathering social security numbers and sensitive data for identity theft.

How vishing attacks work: step-by-step breakdown

Understanding vishing techniques helps organizations build better detection, training, and policy defenses. Here’s how a typical vishing scheme unfolds. 

1. Identify the target

Attackers begin by selecting a target and gathering info. They may research the individual’s role, their manager or vendor relationships, and typical payment or approval workflows. 

Open-source intelligence (OSINT) often provides job titles, phone numbers, internal structure, and past communications patterns. This stage is critical in making the attack feel credible.

2. Spoof the caller ID

Next, the attacker uses tools, like VoIP services, caller‑ID spoofing, or even smartphone apps, to make the incoming call or voicemail appear from a trusted number. 

For example, it may look like it’s coming from the CEO’s direct line or the internal finance department. This pretense increases trust and reduces the target’s suspicion.

3. Create a believable pretext

With identity and callback channel spoofed, the cybercriminal delivers a pretext—a story that justifies why this call is urgent or why the target must act. Typical pretexts include: 

• Vendor payment is overdue.
• We’re locked out of the system.
• Your account has been compromised. Reset it now.
• Your senior exec is on a call and needs approval before market close.

In recent cases, attackers used AI‑cloned voices to impersonate senior leadership. In one example, a LastPass employee received a series of calls, texts, and at least one voicemail via WhatsApp, purportedly from the company’s CEO. 

The attacker tried to bypass normal channels by using one outside of the company’s business communication protocols (WhatsApp) and create urgency. The employee recognized the irregular channel and reported the incident, causing the scam to fail.

4. Exploit emotion and authority

Attackers use emotional triggers to bypass rational deliberation and the typical “double-check” behavior. Because voice feels personal and immediate, the impact can be stronger than email or text. Social engineering levers include: 

• Authority: senior exec, urgent vendor
• Urgency: time‑sensitive, high-stakes
• Scarcity: must act before the transfer window closes
• Fear: bank account will be locked
• Reward: you’ll get a bonus if you approve

5. Instruct the victim to act

Once trust is sufficiently established, the attacker gives a specific instruction. The target, feeling that the voice is credible and the channel is legitimate, may comply without following normal verification steps.

Examples of some instructions could include:

• “Please wire $150,000 immediately to the vendor account we discussed.” 
• “Click the link I’m about to send you and install this update so I can join the call.”
• “Reply with your login code for the MFA device.” 

This is where the damage occurs: fund transfers, credential theft, unauthorized access, or privileged system change.

6. Disappear before detection

After action is taken, the attacker will terminate the call, vanish from contact, clear traces (via burner numbers or temporary VoIP sessions), and move quickly before the victim realizes something is off. 

Rapid execution limits time for the target or IT/security team to detect, escalate, or block the action. Because voice communication can feel “real-time,” the attacker often exploits that perceived “now or never” moment.

Real-world vishing examples that prove it’s not just a “phone scam”

Voice‑based phishing attacks are no longer petty phone scams, but high‑stakes, high‑tech scams that target enterprises, senior executives, and finance processes directly. A few notable examples demonstrate why organizations can no longer treat vishing as a fringe risk.

In early 2024, the engineering firm Arup fell victim to a deepfake scam. An employee received a call (and video conference) that purportedly included senior management from the firm. The voices and visuals were AI‑generated impersonations. The employee authorized transfers amounting to $25 million. Most of these funds were never recovered. 

That same year, the advertising giant WPP reported an attempted scam. Attackers created a fake WhatsApp account using the CEO’s image, set up a Teams meeting with a voice‑clone of the executive and other fabricated visuals, and attempted to extract personal or payment information from an agency leader.

These are targeted attacks, not random calls. Scammers research the company, executives, and payment flows, and use multiple channels and high-fidelity impersonation techniques. Because the employee hears a trusted voice and is asked to act quickly, traditional filters don't apply.

Adaptive Security simulates these scenarios for training: creating custom deepfake voice calls (and visual impersonations) that replicate these real‑world threats. These simulations raise awareness, test readiness, and embed “stop, verify, escalate” behaviors in voice‑enabled workflows.

Why traditional SAT training fails at preventing vishing

Many organizations believe that running annual email phishing training is sufficient to cover their human risk. But when it comes to voice-based, immediate, social-engineering attacks, traditional training reveals three critical gaps.

• Email‑focused training misses voice tactics: Most awareness programs emphasize email‑phishing, but vishing leverages voice communication channels that are rarely included in standard SAT. 
• Training cadence is too slow: Traditional programs deliver training once a year or quarterly and then rely on simulations months later. Employees often forget or never internalize rare annual training. 
• Lack of behavioral feedback loops: Generic click‑testing in emails may measure if someone clicks a link, but not whether someone would comply with a voicemail from their CEO or approve a payment request on a call. 

At Adaptive Security, our approach includes embedding voice‑based vishing scenarios into simulations and running continuous, micro‑learning drills to help employees develop muscle memory. Organizations can better close the gaps that traditional SAT programs leave open.

How to detect and defend against vishing attacks

Vishing calls succeed not because of technical brilliance, but because they exploit human instincts. Defending against them requires a blend of awareness, process discipline, and targeted training. 

Know the warning signs

Most vishing attempts exhibit common red flags. Encouraging a culture of “pause and verify” is more effective than expecting employees to detect every trick on instinct alone.

Employees should be trained to identify:

• Sense of urgency: Phrases like “do this immediately” or “before end-of-day” are engineered to short-circuit rational decision-making.
• Unknown numbers or blocked caller ID: Any number the recipient doesn’t recognize, especially with high-pressure language, should raise suspicion.
• Spoofed caller ID: A call claiming to come from an internal number but that seems out of place is a major red flag. Because caller ID spoofing tools make this easy, this is a favorite technique in enterprise-level vishing.
• Odd channels: Legitimate business requests should come through normal channels. Calls or messages on WhatsApp or personal numbers claiming to be internal should trigger caution.

Validate before acting

High-trust requests, like fund transfers, credential sharing, or urgent approvals, must be validated across independent channels. If a call says “approve this,” verify by Slack, email, or in-person if possible. Authentication is key. 

Finance and procurement should adhere strictly to established processes, regardless of perceived source urgency. If a call demands action, never confirm or act solely on that call. Initiate a separate verification step.

This layered verification protocol is one of the most effective cybersecurity defenses against voice-based fraud.

Use secure callback procedures

Never trust an inbound call that initiates sensitive action. If someone calls claiming to be internal (e.g., IT, finance, CEO), hang up and call them back using an internal directory or known number. Don’t trust unknown switchboards or international VoIP numbers, even if the caller knows personal details.

Use automated callback policies for high-value functions like finance, legal, and HR, so no decisions are made solely on an incoming voice command. 

Train on emotional cues

The most powerful lever in a vishing attack isn’t the technology; it’s the emotional manipulation. Adaptive training focuses on identifying and resisting emotional cues such as:

• Pressure: “If you don’t do this now, the company could lose millions.”
• Panic: “There’s been a breach—we need you to take urgent steps.”
• Praise: “You’re the only one I trust with this.”
• Guilt or obligation: “We’ve already delayed this too long.”

These tactics hijack the employee’s decision-making. Training needs to go beyond policies and help individuals recognize how attackers prey on psychology. Adaptive Security’s simulations incorporate these emotional triggers to build behavioral resilience.

Building a vishing-resilient culture

Vishing is no longer a niche cybercrime. It’s a frontline threat exploiting the trust built into human communication. Attackers are using sophisticated tools to trick even the most experienced employees. 

With Adaptive Security, organizations can run frequent, realistic phishing simulations, track behavioral signals, and teach proper reporting. 

Our platform simulates real-world vishing scenarios, provides role-based training, and delivers behavioral insights to reduce your human attack surface.

Book a demo or take a self-guided tour to see how Adaptive Security helps teams detect voice-based deception in real time.

FAQs about vishing

How common are AI voice scams today?

They’re rising fast. Surveys show that about one in four adults has already encountered an AI-assisted voice scam, and cloning tools are now easy for attackers to access. Even a few seconds of audio from social media can be enough to mimic someone convincingly.

What industries are most at risk for vishing?

Finance, healthcare, legal, and remote-first companies see the most attempts, especially teams handling payments, approvals, payroll, or sensitive data. Roles like finance leads, HR, and executive assistants are frequent targets because one call can authorize real action.

Can vishing be automated using AI?

Yes. Attackers can use AI to mass-generate voice calls, cloned-voice messages, or scripted robocalls. This makes vishing cheaper, faster, and more convincing—allowing criminals to reach hundreds of targets with minimal effort.