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Barclays’ Customers become Target of a Phishing Scam

According to BitDefender, a security firm, a major portion of the online segment is hit by an extremely prolific phishing scam that circulated over 180 e-mails within a time gap of just 3 minutes.

In a bid to con potential dupes into providing their important banging details, cyber-criminals have launched a new phishing attack that uses a misleading e-mail, revealed BitDefender. According to the spam e-mail, as the bank was suffering from the lending crisis, it has been acquired.

To make gullible users believe that the matter needs immediate consideration, the e-mail informs him that access has been temporarily suspended. To exert more pressure, the users are even recommended to insert identification data so as to stay away from any further action, reportedly restriction on further use of online banking services.

When an unwary user clicks on link that the e-mail contains, he is redirected to a phony Barclays website. This fake site uses numerous PHP scripts to steal the important data filled by them.

Experts added that the phisher appears to become greedier. Barclays' users land on a fake Web page after filling in their name and the membership number. On this page, users are supposed to give their sensitive data, like the five digit passcode.

Finally, a user sees a request for a piece of information that appears to be insignificant. First two letters of the memorable word are demanded as this particular so-called insignificant piece of information is actually a hint to recover online banking accounts' passwords.

Bank customers must avoid falling prey to phishing scams, said experts. As said by Nick Billington, managing director of BitDefender UK, under any circumstances, banks never send such messages to their customers, as per the news published by sourcewire.com on March 15, 2010.

The director further added that users must approach such unsolicited message asking for personal sensitive information with utmost skepticism.

Furthermore, before accessing o browsing to the online banking account, it is very critical for the users to always turn on or activate their phishing or anti-phishing filter in addition to any other suites or security applications installed on their systems.

Related article: Brazilian President's Party Website Disrupted

» SPAMfighter News - 3/23/2010

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