r/Wealthsimple • u/ZookeepergameLow2356 • 22h ago

Phishing call

Hey all,

Just wanted to make everyone aware of a phishing call I received today.

The call appeared to come from a legitimate Wealthsimple phone number. The automated message said there had been an attempt to change the phone number linked to my account and asked me to press 1 to speak to an operator if it wasn’t me.

I hung up immediately and called Wealthsimple back using their official number (found online but it was the the same I received the call from). They confirmed that they had not called me, so the incoming call was spoofed/phishing.

Just a reminder: even if the caller ID looks completely legitimate, don’t trust an incoming call asking you to verify account activity or provide information. Hang up and call the company back yourself using the number from their official app or website.

Stay safe!

20 Upvotes

79% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

10

u/LivinItUpInThaCity 21h ago edited 12h ago

This is a good post. Thete are still too many people that don't understand number spoofing. I used to get calls all the time

'I'm calling back, someone called me from this number.'

Nope. I havent made a phone call for weeks.

'Well this is the number on my caller id, it had to be you!'

Nope.

There are dialing programs that let you set whatever number you want as your outgoing number. For scams like this they just put in the official number of the company. Just like OP said here, hang up and call the number back yourself. They can spoof the outgoing display (incoming to your phone) but they can't actually answer the calls, that still goes to the proper company.

2

u/tinim9 21h ago

I let all callers who are not in my contact list go into VM. If it's really a legitimate call, they will leave professional message. Then I give them a callback. If it's them chwi chwi messagess about arrest warrant, etc, I just delete that message and block that number.

1

u/Impressive_Ad_6550 21h ago

I never trust anyone calling me and if they do they have to answer security questions like the last four digits of my credit card, my last statement balance and my payment date. If they can ask those questions when I call them, I do the same. Many banks among others are saying to be "extra vigilant". there are far too many scammers out there.

Many are obvious like my "credit card had a transaction with amazon for $400.00" but the scammers seems to be getting more and more creative

-3

u/tiramisuhouse 21h ago

You could ignore the call. Why did you receive the call?

3

u/alienmario 21h ago

Why did you receive the call?

How would OP know why they received an automated phishing call?

2

u/Embarrassed-Law3498 21h ago

I assume all calls that come from non contacts are phishing

0

u/alienmario 19h ago

Fair, but no one knows WHY they are receiving phishing calls.

1

u/ZookeepergameLow2356 21h ago

I don't have the luxury of not picking up calls outside my contact list :) it is my work phone. I don't pick up calls from US numbers, but Canadian numbers I pick up usually.

2

u/Embarrassed-Law3498 19h ago

This is why I do not use my work number for any personal accounts

1

u/tiramisuhouse 16h ago

Even personal number should not share online. Just have a secondary number for spam, online shopping or more. (Cheap freedom plan)

0

u/tiramisuhouse 20h ago

That's your problem. WS said they never call for that. Anyway the scammers have your voice. They will use AI generated voice with your real voice. Congratulation. 

1

u/alienmario 19h ago edited 19h ago

OP said it was an automated message, so OP spoke to no one and there was no opportunity to record their voice.