'Phishing' For Your Bank Details

ROVworld Admin Joined: Dec 12, 2003 Location: Portugal

This is one carried over from the old forum

By Jane Mack (TMFJane)
October 27, 2003

United Kingdom.
Over the weekend a bank and a building society and their customers became the latest victims of a two-tier email scam known as 'phishing'.

The word was coined by hackers who are developing lookalike websites of legitimate businesses in an effort to trick people into parting with their account numbers and passwords via email. In other words, they're on a fishing expedition for your financial details.

As the fraudsters are usually outside the UK, they can't transfer money directly out of a victim's account so once they've got your details, they then send spam emails offering recipients the chance to make some easy money by acting as a UK agent to a business overseas. They're asked to receive money into their account and send it abroad, less a certain commission.

Over the last couple of months, hackers have targeted customers of Barclays, LloydsTSB, NatWest, and now Halifax and Nationwide. And some of their customers have fallen for the scam believing the request for account and password details to be a bona-fide request from the companies they bank with.

Last week the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit and the banking industry issued guidelines to consumers to help protect themselves from the fraudsters.
See this link: http://www.bba.org.uk/public/newsroom/pressreleases/152161

The key bit of advice is to realise that banks will never ask for personal financial details via email. And bear in mind that if you're asked for information via email then always go directly to the company's website by typing the URL into the address box “ don't click on the link within the email in case it takes you to a fake lookalike site.

Also, when dealing with financial information or transactions over the internet, always make sure that you can see the little padlock in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen and that there is an 's' after the http in the address (https) which indicate that the site is secure.

The banking industry says early indications show that not many customers have fallen prey to the scam but that any who do lose money to the fraudsters will be compensated under their code of practice.