Bank Negara Cautions of Phishing E-mail

Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has cautioned of an e-mail scam that is presently circulating on the Web, as reported by The Star on May 16, 2011.

In a statement, BNM stated that the victims would get e-mails reportedly from the bank telling them that it was now collecting private banking details to update its database, as reported by Bernama on June 16, 2011.

The Bank claimed that, they will be urged to click on a link or reply to the e-mail directly. After the person clicks on the link, he/she would be taken to a fake site asking them to reveal private data, like credit or debit card details, which includes card code verification or other private identification numbers.

The Bank also added that, the public should avoid those e-mails and must not give private banking details to anyone in any circumstances.

Central bank claimed that, financial institutions, such as credit card holders, banking institutions and BNM itself, would never ask for personal banking details, be it through e-mails, SMS, or telephone calls.

The Bank also highlighted that, people should use updated web browsers with in-built phishing filters.

Furthermore, the Bank gave some security tips. Firstly, users must never make their passwords too personal. Instead, they should make passwords that have letters and numbers that cannot be easily related to them. Secondly, users are recommended to change their passwords on a frequent basis.

The Bank informed that people who have got such e-mails should immediately contact their respective banks or the Associations of Bank in Malaysia (ABM) on their toll-free service at its hotline number. And for further details on financial scams activities, the bank recommended users to visit the financial fraud alert website at http://fraudalert.bnm.gov.my.

Besides, the bank stated that the public can contact BNMTELELINK (Customer Contact Centre) at its hotline or e-mail it to bnmtelelink@bnm.gov.my for further enquiries.

Lastly, it is because of phishing e-mail scams like the above mentioned types that led security firm Symantec to conclude in its recently released edition of "State of Spam & phishing Report" for June 2011 that phishing is indeed rising.

Related article: Bank Issues Spam Alerts

» SPAMfighter News - 6/25/2011