NJ Orders Bank to Report Phishing

On October 23, 2007, Trenton (New Jersey, US) State Attorney General Anne Milgram declared that she has ordered four banks for reports on "phishing" crimes, which have affected customers of NJ to help in its law enforcements efforts.

Anne has given out separate letters to Citibank, Sun National Bank, Bank of America and Washington Mutual to work mutually with the office of Attorney General to solve phishing scams and to improve and develop Internet security systems. These four banks have been the target of hackers many a times in recent past.

Almost every bank has hot lines and certain instructions to customers who think they have received a fake mail, and some of the measures may offer the customers pretence of security and safety.

Phishing mails appear authentic as it contains similar logos of the official sites taken from the original site. Further, these kinds of mails contain a link which appears like it will lead the user to the genuine site of the bank, but it actually takes him/her to a phony Website where he/she is directed to disclose his/her personal details. Innocent users fell into the trap and divulge their all personal details thinking that they are interacting with the original bank site.

Anne added that the focus of Internet safety should not be confined to sex predators only but also to con artists and other criminals. She also said that the danger from phishing scams requires serious attention from the banking industry, as per the news by Courier Pot Online on October 24, 2007.

The Office of Attorney General said that this year (2007), the state has got 20 phishing complaints from consumers. Further, the Attorney General has also ordered that each bank should send an e-mail to its online customers alerting them that they had been a victim of phishing scams recently. They should also accustomed the users with the knowledge to differentiate between a genuine and sound bank generated mail and a fake mail, as per the news by North Jersey.com on October 24, 2007.

Related article: NZ Researcher Uncovers Hacking Techniques Against Vista

» SPAMfighter News - 11/13/2007