SABRIC Warns Online Banking Customers of Rising Phishing Attacks

Security officials at SABRIC have asked South Africans to be careful while doing their banking transactions online as hackers are using private details to steal money from bank accounts, as reported by EYE WITNESS NEWS on October 8, 2009.

Kalyani Pillay, CEO of SABRIC, claimed that they were currently examining an unusual rise in phishing attacks across the industry and would like to alert bank customers to be extra cautious, as reported by NEWS 24 on October 8, 2009.

Pillay further said - the worrying trend about the latest increase in phishing attacks is that the attacked details is now being used by hackers faster than before. The time gap between the hacking of private details and their use has lessened.

In addition, security officials stated that most of these scams were run through e-mails. There were cases where people received the same phishing mail every day.

Officials informed that the phishing mails were sent to thousands of bank customers asking them to click on the link to access information purporting to had come from the bank or to update their information. Instead of providing the information, they were taken to a forged website which looked quite similar to the legitimate website of the bank and were duped into revealing their private details on fake online forms on that site.

Further, the latest phishing attacks were made to look identical to security alerts from bank's online security divisions and asked for more customer details.

The present stream of spam asks customers to verify details like mobile number and mail. This is done solely with an objective of seizing One-Time-Password (OTP) of customers. They are able to do this with the help of mobile phone, SIM swaps or by asking bank customers to verify their OTPs after using the account with hacked details.

Finally, security experts suggest that bank customers should avoid any mails that ask for private details, even if the mail appears authentic or carries useful information. Further, people, who suspect that they might have replied to mails asking private information, should instantly contact their banking institutions.

Related article: SABRIC - Phishing Scams Rising in South Africa

» SPAMfighter News - 10/28/2009