Phishing Scam Hits Queensland Residents

The residents of Darling Downs and Toowoomba (Queensland, Australia) have been advised to be wary of a scam e-mail detected by the researchers. The e-mail claims to have been sent from Westpac Bank.

In the e-mail, the Bank addresses its users and says that it desires to protect their accounts and assets. To meet the mandates of the Financial Services Authority, the Bank asks all its customers to confirm their account details and provide their account an additional protection layer.

To add a protective layer to the account, people need to click on a link provided within the e-mail.

The official website of the Bank has tagged the e-mail as a scam, rather a phishing scam.

Phishing attack can be described as an attack wherein scammers try to procure critical users' details, like the account number, credit card number, passwords, by impersonating as a reliable organization, such as the Bank in the said case.

As stated by the Bank's website, Westpac's customers will never be asked to verify, update, or modify their online banking details, as reported by thechronicle.com.au on April 28, 2010.

The website urges its customers to think upon three questions if they come across this email: One, are they being asked to click some particular link or contact someone over phone? Two, do they need to provide their account information? And three, is the grammar and punctuation used in the e-mail up to the mark or not?

The website says that if answer to any of these questions is "yes", then it might be a scam.

The official website of the Bank asks users to first verify the legitimacy of the e-mail and then respond. They can cross check the details by calling the Bank on its hotline number or by just viewing it at its website. If the users come to know of a transaction that was not made by them or if they believe that someone has compromised their security, they must immediately contact the Bank.

The only way advised by the security experts to avoid being a victim of such scams is to install security software to block such e-mails from entering the inbox.

Related article: Phishing With A Redirector Code

» SPAMfighter News - 5/8/2010