Widespread Vishing Effort Impersonates CISA Staff

The cybersecurity agency issued a warning not to agree to any payment requests and to alert law enforcement or CISA after being contacted.

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an alert this week warning that malicious actors have been making phone calls claiming to be representatives from the organization, and making requests for cash, gift card, or cryptocurrency transfers.

“Impersonation scams are on the rise and often use the names and titles of government employees,” CISA explained in the brief advisory. “As a reminder, CISA staff will never contact you with a request to wire money, cash, cryptocurrency, or use gift cards and will never instruct you to keep the discussion secret.”

The CISA did not offer additional details as to who might be perpetrating the voice phishing (“vishing”) fraud attempts, but advised anyone who is contacted in such a scheme to deny the request for payment, make note of the phone number and hang up immediately.

Those contacted were also asked to report the incident to law enforcement and reach out to CISA by calling (844) SAY-CISA (844-729-2472)...