Unexpected charge or renewal
A message claims a purchase, subscription, or service will be charged unless the recipient calls immediately.
Callback Phishing Awareness
How to Recognize and Report Callback Phishing
Callback phishing uses a message, invoice, or alert to persuade the recipient to call a phone number controlled by the attacker, who then continues the scam by voice.
Use this guide to turn the threat into a clear employee decision, a safe practice scenario, and a reporting step your organization can support.
Plain-English definition • Warning signs • Safe simulation ideas • Reporting practice
01Understand the threat
Callback Phishing: a practical definition
Callback phishing uses a message, invoice, or alert to persuade the recipient to call a phone number controlled by the attacker, who then continues the scam by voice.
The email may contain no clickable link. The dangerous destination is the phone number and the conversation that follows, so link-focused training alone can miss the decision.
Source: CISA Phishing Guidance
02Recognition clues
Warning signs employees can check in a callback phishing message
No single clue proves that a message is malicious. Teach employees to combine the request, sender, business context, destination, and available verification route before acting.
Phone-only resolution
The message discourages normal account access and directs every question to a number printed in the email or attachment.
Pressure during the call
The caller asks for remote access, authentication codes, payment, credentials, or installation of unfamiliar software.
03Safe response
Move from suspicion to a supported next step
| Moment | Employee action | Program preparation |
|---|---|---|
| Before acting | Open the known vendor or account service independently and use a trusted support number; do not rely on the number printed in an unexpected message. | Publish the authentic contact, application, or reporting route somewhere employees can reach without using the message. |
| When uncertain | Pause the request and report it through the approved channel with enough context for review. | Explain what the response team needs and how employees will know that their report was received. |
| After an interaction | Stop, contact the responsible team promptly, and describe the action taken without hiding the mistake. | Provide a well-known response route and avoid communications that discourage early reporting. |
Source: NIST: Recognizing, verifying, and reporting phishing
04Practice safely
Callback Phishing simulation and discussion ideas
Choose one learning objective per exercise. Use fictional people, organizations, accounts, payments, documents, and events, and test the reporting route before sending to employees.
Invoice discussion
Show a fictional renewal notice and ask employees to identify the safe account and support routes without placing a call.
Guided tabletop
Walk through what to do if a caller asks for remote access, a code, or a payment after an unexpected email.
Reporting practice
Test whether employees can report a message whose main indicator is a phone number rather than a link.
05Campaign workflow
Build the exercise around a decision employees can repeat
- 1
Define the behavior
Write down the callback phishing clue being practiced, the expected action, the authorized audience, and the owner of follow-up.
- 2
Confirm the real process
Test the independent verification route, message-reporting option, response handoff, and employee support path from a representative account.
- 3
Pilot the scenario
Check delivery, links, landing content, accessibility, event records, automated inspection, stop conditions, and the explanation employees will receive.
- 4
Review in context
Reconcile intended recipients, successful deliveries, unique employee events, verified reports, response handling, and completed follow-up before drawing conclusions.
Source: NIST SP 800-50 Rev. 1: Building a Cybersecurity and Privacy Learning Program
06Useful measurement
Evaluate recognition, reporting, and the surrounding process
Record actual counts and denominators for delivery, unique recipient events, reports, and follow-up. Separate automated email inspection and repeat events where the available evidence supports doing so.
A callback phishing exercise samples one scenario under one set of conditions. It does not establish an employee's intent, overall security awareness, or likelihood of responding the same way to a real attack.
Use findings to improve the real workflow: clearer verification instructions, easier reporting, faster response handling, better role-specific training, or a business control that reduces reliance on email alone.
Common questions
Common questions about Phishmake's features, onboarding, and support, answered to help you get started with confidence.
Why can callback phishing pass email checks?
The message may use ordinary text or an image and omit a malicious web link. Employees still need to assess the business context and verify the phone number independently.
Should a simulation include a live phone call?
Usually a message-based exercise or facilitated discussion can teach the decision with less risk. A live call requires separate authorization, privacy review, trained operators, recording rules, and a clear stop process.
Can callback phishing be used in a phishing simulation?
It can be practiced when the scenario is authorized, proportionate, and tied to a real reporting or verification process. Do not direct employees to an uncontrolled number, imitate emergency or debt-collection calls, request remote access, or record a simulated call without explicit authorization and appropriate notice.
How should callback phishing simulation results be measured?
Review successful delivery, unique employee events, reports, response handling, and completed follow-up. Include scenario difficulty and operating context, and do not treat a click or report as a complete measure of employee risk.
Sources & further reading
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