Phishing.....
Well, something new in my e-mail tonight.... Buried among the myriad of offers to increase the size of my penis, or provide name-brand pharmaceuticals without a prescription, not to mention all the spam offering to sell me a genuine Rolex watch at pennies on the dollar - was a phishing e-mail. The e-mail purported to be from my bank and offered me the opportunity to win a free on-line bill payment up to $1,000. "Just follow the link below and log in for your chance to win".
My employer has sent out various warnings about this type of spam in relation to company credit cards and accounts, so I was suspicious. But I wanted to see where the link would take me. (And no - I didn't enter any information or try to log in). But I have to admit, I was amazed at the quality of forgery of the site. It was an exact duplicate of my bank's on-line banking log-in screen, including the link to instructions on how to report suspected fraudulent e-mails.
So I closed down the browser, and called my bank's customer service department. The nice lady who (eventually) answered my call was very helpful. She confirmed that they are not offering any such contest and would never include links to log-in screens from an e-mail. They asked if the e-mail used their logos (it did) and asked me to send a copy of the e-mail to their fraud investigation department.
So there you have it. Not much else or exciting in my life - so I have to post about the e-mail I receive. How boring. =)
My employer has sent out various warnings about this type of spam in relation to company credit cards and accounts, so I was suspicious. But I wanted to see where the link would take me. (And no - I didn't enter any information or try to log in). But I have to admit, I was amazed at the quality of forgery of the site. It was an exact duplicate of my bank's on-line banking log-in screen, including the link to instructions on how to report suspected fraudulent e-mails.
So I closed down the browser, and called my bank's customer service department. The nice lady who (eventually) answered my call was very helpful. She confirmed that they are not offering any such contest and would never include links to log-in screens from an e-mail. They asked if the e-mail used their logos (it did) and asked me to send a copy of the e-mail to their fraud investigation department.
So there you have it. Not much else or exciting in my life - so I have to post about the e-mail I receive. How boring. =)