A message urging you to act immediately, a call that seems to come from your bank, an SMS that appears within an existing conversation.
This is how many online scams work today.
In recent years, online fraud has increased significantly: in 2025 alone, Italy recorded a +9.2% rise in credit fraud during the first half of the year and over 1.2 million victims of financial scams.
More sophisticated, more complex, and increasingly difficult to recognize (also due to AI), these scams have caused and continue to cause significant damage and billion‑euro losses.
And no: they don’t only affect less experienced users. Anyone can be involved. .
Understanding how they work is the first step to protecting yourself.
Phishing: what it is and how it works
The scammer casts a lure and waits for the unsuspecting user to bite.
This fraudulent technique, perhaps the most well‑known, takes place via email and aims to persuade the victim to take a specific action, such as clicking on a link or downloading an app. The real goal, however, is to steal sensitive information, such as personal or banking data.
What should you check?
Among the most important aspects is the content of the email: messages that talk about winnings, gifts or prizes, or claim serious issues with your bank account and ask you to click on a link or enter personal data are clear warning signs to stay away from.
The role of legitimate communication
Phishing works because it imitates real communications: emails that seem to come from banks, companies or services we use every day. For this reason, it is essential for companies to adopt recognizable and consistent communication channels.
Using reliable infrastructures, verifiable senders and clear messages drastically reduces confusion for users and makes it easier to distinguish legitimate communications from fraudulent ones.
As we also explain in our article about phishing, technology alone is not enough: processes, people and communications designed to build trust are essential.
Smishing: what it is and how it works
When a phishing attempt takes place via SMS, it is called smishing.
In most cases, messages come from numbers that are not saved in our contacts. However, in more subtle cases, they appear to come directly from your bank or well‑known services, blending into existing message threads.
How can you protect yourself? Always ask for a traceable landline number, verify the identity of the sender, and download apps only from official stores—never directly from a WhatsApp message or SMS.
Why are SMS so commonly used by scammers?
Because they are immediate, personal and difficult to distinguish from legitimate messages. For this reason, companies must use recognizable and reliable messaging solutions to help users clearly identify authentic communications.
Vishing: what it is and how it works
Vishing refers to fraud attempts carried out via phone calls, aimed at convincing users to disclose personal information.
How to recognize it and how to avoid it
This can be more difficult than in other cases: scammers pose as banks, service providers or telecom companies, asking for personal data or urging users to download applications.
Here, spoofing often comes into play—a technique used to fake the caller’s number to appear trustworthy.
Golden rule: always be cautious with unsolicited calls. Never share sensitive data and contact the company directly through official channels to verify the request.
Conclusions
If a message or call pushes you to act immediately, stopping is already a form of protection. In a context where scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated, communicating in a clear and recognizable way is not just an operational choice, it is part of security itself.
Fraud can be prevented not only with technology, but also through clear, consistent and recognizable communication practices.
For users, this means learning to pause, verify and avoid acting on impulse.
For companies, it means adopting reliable channels, certified infrastructures and communication practices that leave no room for doubt.
When phishing, smishing and vishing become more sophisticated, communicating well is not just a strategic choice: it is a concrete form of protection.
