Phone Fraud Criminals may be Using Information Found on Social Media Profiles to Answer Your Security Questions

Have you ever answered any security questions over the phone when calling your bank? According to a study by Pindrop, a voice security and authentication company, 61% of consumers admit sharing answers to security questions on social media profiles. Security questions serve the purpose of adding an extra layer of security, which may become compromised when you share sensitive information over social media websites. This Tuesday the founder of Pindrop, Vijay Balasubramaniyan, spoke at MoneyConf in Madrid explaining what banks could do better to protect their customers as call center fraud continues to rise. Vijay warns that consumers are exposing themselves to the growing risk of phone fraud as criminals can use information found on social media profiles to answer weak security questions. Banks' contact centers pose questions to confirm the person's identity, but criminals may be targeting social media accounts to find the answers to those questions. The research highlights the security flaws and the need to improve security on the phone channel, a channel that has long been neglected.