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Phone Scams

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Spoofing Caller

Spoofing Caller Attacks: How Criminals Fake Numbers

The IRS Call That Cost a Hospital $1.5 Million A CFO at a mid-sized hospital picked up the phone. The caller ID showed the IRS main line. The voice on the other end was professional, urgent, and specific — citing the organization's actual EIN and a pending audit.

Carl B. Johnson May 17, 2026 5 min read
Vishing Scam Awareness

Vishing Scam Awareness: Stop Voice Phishing Attacks

In March 2025, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reported that Americans lost over $12.5 billion to cybercrime in 2023 alone — and voice-based social engineering was one of the fastest-growing attack vectors. I've personally investigated cases where a single phone call cost an organization six

Carl B. Johnson Sep 21, 2025 6 min read
Spoofing Caller

Spoofing Caller Attacks: How Hackers Steal Trust

In March 2022, the FBI warned that threat actors were spoofing caller IDs of financial institutions and government agencies to steal millions from unsuspecting victims. The Bureau's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received over 18,000 complaints related to spoofing in 2021 alone, with adjusted losses exceeding $82

Carl B. Johnson Sep 04, 2022 6 min read
Spoofing Caller

Spoofing Caller Attacks: How Hackers Weaponize Your Phone

In March 2021, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reported that Americans lost over $54 million to phone spoofing and vishing schemes in the previous year alone. That number was climbing. And it wasn't just grandparents falling for "IRS" calls — it was finance directors

Carl B. Johnson Aug 08, 2021 7 min read
Vishing Scam Awareness

Vishing Scam Awareness: Stop Voice Phishing Attacks

In January 2021, the FBI and CISA issued a joint advisory warning about a surge in vishing attacks targeting corporate employees working from home. Threat actors were calling employees directly, impersonating IT help desks, and convincing them to hand over VPN credentials. Within hours, attackers had access to internal networks,

Carl B. Johnson Apr 14, 2021 7 min read