I have on three occasions now received Fraudulent E-mails.
They used the name of well known banks of Pennsylvania, and they all claiming that their is a problem with my account. I need to urgently click on the link they give me that leads to the “banks” homepage.
I shall paste from the latest one:”
….
From: [bank name removed by me]
Date: 2008/2/14
Subject: Your account features have been restricted !
To:
.
Dear [bank name removed by me] account holder,
.
Because of several failed sign on attempts to you online account, your Regions Bank account features have been restricted as of the time of this notification. For more account information, to restore your account features, to verify your Available Credit, to request a Credit Line Increase or make an online payment, you must contact us at
.
[link removed be me]
.
This message is for information purposes only.
Please understand that we cannot respond to individual messages through this email address. It is not secure and should not be used for credit card account related questions.
To restore your [bank name removed] Banking features, please follow these steps:
1. Contact us at [link remove from me,it used the rel banks name in it]
2. Sign On to your online account and verify your Available Credit
After you submitted your message, check for a response within 48 hours. Just return to the Write to Customer Care section and select View/Update Message link.
© Copyright 2007 [ bank name here]. All Rights Reserved.
Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender .
”
— I did not even have an account with the bank listed….
This an identity theft scam. The web site it directed me to is fraudulent site. The idea is to fool me into giving a name password or even a social security number up.
This is what is called Phishing.
~
BANKS DO NOT DO BUSINESS THIS WAY. BANK ACCOUNT PROBLEMS ARE NEVER HANDLED VIA E-MAIL. IF YOU GET AN E-MAIL LIKE THIS IT IS PROBABLY A SCAM.
~
What to do if you recieve an e-mail like this:
*DONT: click on any link or reply to the E-mail. You give up your computers IP
* DONT: panic. if you are concerned with your account, contact your bank by proper channels.
*DO: report it, if you can. Most Banks have an e-mail address for this kind of thing. Contact the bank via telephone or go to their legitimate WEB site and search “abuse” of “Fraud”.
Normally they will ask that you forward the scam E-mail to an address. They can shut down fraudulent links quickly, so no one can get taken in by an identity theft scam.
~
Remember the WEB is a community. It is up to all of us to keep the WEB safe for everyone else.
Thanks.
