Bank Scam Warning For Computer Users

Her name is Chris and that’s all she wants you to know about her.

She’s not so much worried about you – just the person who sent her a very carefully disguised email purporting to be from a bank, asking for highly sensitive information.

It looked very real. But it was completely phony. And Chris is lucky she didn’t respond to it or she could have lost a lot more than just her time. She was the attempted victim of a phishing scam, a way to trick you into surrendering information you’d never give away otherwise – like your social insurance number or you PIN.

Sophisticated thieves have learned to make the emails look amazingly like the real thing. And it’s easy to be fooled. Chris received six of them in 24 hours.

“It’s scary because there are people out there who are going to get something like this, and they will be robbed, not to mention identity theft,” she worries.

Experts agree it pays to be careful.

“Your bank would never contact you by e-mail asking you for any sort of personal information,” assures Maura Drew-Lytle of the Canadian Bankers Association . “With these phishing e-mails usually they don’t know who you are so it will say ‘dear valued customer’ and they often tend to have a sense of urgency. You know, you have to reconfirm your password within 24 hours or your account will be closed down.”

If you’re unsure of anything you’ve received in an email, contact your local institution before sending a reply. The money you save could be your own.

Here’s a look at what a phishing scam is and some do’s and don’ts about them:

Phising is a term that means someone is trying to ‘fish’ for private information, like your PIN, your Social Insurance Number or your mother’s maiden name. The idea is to get you to surrender the information yourself so they can use it to steal your money or your identity. You should never have to give these out to anyone online and no bank will ever ask for them.

Don’t fall for the looks. It’s easy to create a website that looks like it might be from a real bank. Tip-offs include poor graphics on the logo, a lack of security (the so-called “lock icon” in the bottom right of your browser) and an address that doesn’t match the real one. (Like ‘tdbank@hotmail.com’.) No reputable financial institution will use a third party provider’s email.

Do look for mistakes. The real sites have been vetted to ensure there are no grammatical or spelling errors.

Do watch for personalization. Real banks will address you as Dear Mr./Ms. YourName, not “Dear customer”.

Don’t fall for claims of urgency. All of the phony emails try to make you think something –  like your account – will expire unless you respond immediately. Banks will always give you plenty of notice when a term limit is up and your accounts, passwords, etc. never “expire”.

Don’t believe any emails about money transfers from someone you don’t know. A stranger will never send you free money, period.

The Canadian Bankers’ Association has set up the following example of a phony email you might receive. Real names have been replaced with “Any Bank” and some common terms to watch for have been highlighted. 

 —–Original Message—–
From: Any Bank Customer Service
Sent: April 14, 2005 3:58 PM
To: Doe, Jane
Subject: Security Update

Dear valued “Any Bank” client,

Recently there have been a large number of identify theft attempts targeting “Any Bank” customers. In order to safeguard your account we require that you confirm your Personal details.

This process is mandatory.

Please click link below and submit the required information.

“Any Bank” Financial Group Login

Failure to do so may result in a temporary cessation of your account services pending submission. Thank you for your promt attention to this matter and your co-operation in helping us maintain the integrity of our customers accounts.

“Any Bank” respects your privacy. Click here to read the “Any Bank” Privacy Policy Statement.

Please do not reply to this e-mails, as this is an unmonitored alias.

© 2006 “Any Bank”, Inc.

For more on what you can do to spot and stop phising scams, click here.