Lloyds TSB Bank Alerts its Customers about Phishing E-mail

Lloyds TSB Bank of UK has just issued an alert to caution its customers about an e-mail scam, according to the news released by fraudwatchinternational on March 25, 2009.

The phishing e-mail comes to the customer's inbox in the form of a security warning apparently from Lloyds TSB regarding online banking service.

To appear genuine, the e-mail tells the consumer that Lloyds TSB always aims to make its online banking a safe experience for customers.

The e-mail informs the customer about the need to confirm the changes done to his contact details within account profile. These changes include the customer's address, e-mail, telephone number etc, the message claims.

The e-mail then directs the recipient to click on a link if he hasn't asked for the changes, and provide his latest account profile to Lloyds TSB. But when the user clicks on the link, he is led to a phony Lloyds TSB Bank website designed for phishing.

In fact, the phishing e-mail twists its message by warning customers that failure to confirm their account information in 24 hours could lead to the inaccessibility of their accounts for security reasons.

In wake of the phishing e-mail, Lloyds TSB warned its consumers to be on guard against phishing as well as reminded them that the Bank doesn't ask for personal information over e-mail.

The Bank also says that one clue for customers to check the authenticity of an e-mail is to look for his name in the "To" field of the e-mail. Lloyds TSB Bank knows all its customers and if they write e-mail to any of its accountholders, they would always address him by his name, while phishers or other Internet scammers are not likely to address the recipient personally as they would not know his name.

Ultimately, the Bank advises its accountholders that if any e-mail comes to them asking for personal details such as address, e-mail ID etc. then they should send it straight to the Bank at emailscams@lloydstsb.co.uk and subsequently, discard the message without replying to it.

Related article: Lloyds Banking Group Cautions Customers Against Phishing Attacks

» SPAMfighter News - 4/1/2009