Phishing Scammers Push for Callbacks in Latest Innovation

Telephone-Oriented Attack Delivery Social Engineering Tactic Thrives Mathew J. Schwartz (euroinfosec) • July 3, 2025

The phishing industry is a never ending font of novelty and innovation. Cyber fraudsters are determined to worm their way into your inbox.

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Recent attacks involve callback phishing, a social engineering tactic designed to break down victims' defenses by spurring them into calling the scammers themselves, after which attackers can pry into wallets by playing on emotions.

That real-time interaction is key, threat intel firm Cisco Talos said in a Wednesday report. "The live interaction during a phone call enables attackers to manipulate the victim's emotions and responses by employing social engineering tactics," said Omid Mirzaei, security research lead in the email threat research team at Cisco Talos.

The bait in such cases often is a PDF ...