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First Federal Cautions Accountholders about Phishing Scam

According to First Federal Bank situated in Charleston (South Carolina), an e-mail scam is currently targeting its customers, as reported by Thesunnews on July 13, 2009.

The phishing scam involves fake e-mails that accountholders got during 10-13 July, 2009. While one batch of the e-mails asked its recipients to participate in an online survey and they would be compensated approximately $50 per participant, the other batch deceptively warned accountholders that a severe problem was noticed in their accounts and for that reason officials deactivated their payment cards.

In both instances, customers receiving the fake e-mails are directed to enter their financial and other personal information. Typically, the financial information consists of PIN and card's expiration date.

Bruce Copeland, Spokesman of First Federal, said that the scams aimed to attack people indiscriminately, as reported by Postandcourier on July 13, 2009.

Copeland added that whoever responded to these phishing e-mails was likely to get ensnared by the vicious phishing webs. These phishing webs had been created by perpetrators who were pretending to be representatives of First Federal.

Considering the safety of its consumers a priority, First Federal Bank has alerted more than 60,000 of its accountholders about the phishing scam by sending warning e-mails. Additionally, the Bank has posted another similar alert on its official website to inform customers about the scam so that none might fall prey to it.

The Bank in the alerts states that it wishes to once again tell its customers that First Federal wouldn't ever request customers for their private details over e-mail, or via any other communication means like phone or SMS.

Moreover, the Bank never e-mails to its consumers directing them to its website where they are asked to enter their account or other private details for verification. Hence, if any accountholder gets this kind of e-mail, he should immediately delete the message without answering it.

However, if any accountholder has already been victimized by any of the scam e-mails, then he must inform his financial institution instantly and instruct to cancel his payment cards.

Finally, customers experiencing any such phishing instance should report it to FTC at spam@use.gov, or go to www.ftc.gov.

Related article: FIRST Reveals Staggering Rise in Computer Hacking in China

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