Phishing E-mail Spoofing ICU’s Name

Another phishing e-mail that mentioned the name of ICU (Indianhead Credit Union), Spooner (Wisconsin USA) in the sender's address hit the Washburn County on December 12, 2008, according to the news reported by WCRegister on the same day.

As described, phishing refers to the practice of con artists using e-mail and a trusted organization's name to gain access to users' bank and credit card accounts. In the latest incident, both authorized members and people who are not members of the union were targeted. A report states that people were receiving an e-mail questionnaire supposedly from ICU.

The e-mail requested recipients to furnish information into a 9-question online survey for a promised reward of $90. But at the conclusion, it inquired about user's credit card details, including the number, 3-digit CVC number and expiration date. In addition, there was a link pointing to a closely resembling ICU website.

The union's officials said that report of spoof e-mail scams emerged in various versions to steal confidential information of either bank account or credit card numbers. According to them, it isn't surprising for such a scam to surface at every few-weeks interval. They are very common, but adversely affect every institution.

As a result, ICU is warning everyone to watch out for these kinds of e-mails, and said that the union never, under any circumstance, sends e-mail to people for asking their account details.

However, many users normally have spam filters to block such e-mails, but still a considerable number unwittingly fall victim to spam scams. When the union learnt about the particular e-mail fraud, it discovered that it was not alone facing the problem of credit card data being shared amidst crooks, but that US Bank too had just faced a similar circumstance.

Moreover, phishing schemes are increasingly targeting credit unions as one of them used the identity of Telco Community Credit Union in Asheville to collect private information of people there, the credit union reported recently. The scheme circulated a message that warned recipients that the union had to deactivate their cards and so users were required to call given telephone numbers to rectify the problem.

Related article: Phishing With A Redirector Code

» SPAMfighter News - 12/24/2008