Bank Cautions of Latest Phishing Scam

Some Las Vegas residents got a mail from a local bank as a notice that $1,000 was transferred from their accounts. The residents believed what they saw until they confirmed with their bank.

But the mails were fake, and this was done to steal private information of the bank's customers. The case involved Wells Fargo Bank's customers and a spokeswoman of the bank said that there is no data that can tell how many customers got these fake mails.

These mails are known as phishing scams as the creators try to trick customers into revealing their private details. The mail, which was received by the residents of Las Vegas, apparently came from Wells Fargo Bank. It reads - "That is why we are proactively alerting you of the following activity on your online banking account. Transfer amount-$1,000."

The residents were cautioned as the mails were talking about transferring of $1,000, and the amount was going to an unknown man - David Jenkins. As some of the customers were targeted earlier by similar financial scam, they clicked on the attached link and then came to know about the scam.

But these kinds of scams are not just restricted to Wells Fargo Bank. Big banks like Bank of America and Citibank also have some Web pages which address mail scams to inform their customers.

Further, the banks claim that when anyone got unsolicited, suspicious mails asking for all private details, customers should get alert, and rather divulging the information, they should take a copy of the mail to the nearest branch of the bank.

The banks also added that any authentic bank would never send any mail asking for private information. Indeed, the bank has all the details and they will never enquire through email.

Moreover, hackers are taking advantage from the failures of banks and mergers with an aim to steal private details from the account holders. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also alerts that anyone can get phishing mails that appear authentic and seem to have come from financial organizations that lately acquired bank, savings, loan and mortgage.

Related article: Bank Issues Spam Alerts

» SPAMfighter News - 11/4/2008