UK Residents Get Alert of a Phishing Scam

Police in the UK are warning residents of a scam e-mail that could potentially impact their accounts at banks. According to John Cowan, Chief Official, people reported of an e-mail saying that their accounts had been suspended.

On August 3, 2008, a lady reported of receiving one such message. And when called at the number given in it, someone on the other side said that he was from Mutual Bank. The individual then started asking personal information like the lady's bank account and personal identification numbers, said Cowan, as reported by Xpress on August 7, 2008.

Commenting on the e-mail, Cowan said that it is clearly part of a phishing fraud. Like always, the objective is to get someone to provide his/her credit card or bank details by delivering a fake e-mail that poses to come from the recipient's bank and requests for confirmation of account details.

However, Cowan said that the lady did not divulge her information, and he is not aware of any accounts that have been infiltrated.

Cowan further said that many people had received a message claiming to be from Bridgewater Credit Union.

The fraudulent e-mails appear real as the scammers hijacked the typeset and logo of the reputed companies. Debbie Brown, an Investigator for the Hillsborough County Consumer Protection Agency said that crooks hope the e-mails would prompt recipients to give out personal information that they could use to capture their identities, as reported by CarrollWood on August 6, 2008.

Brown further added that users must be wary of phony e-mails that pretend to come from reputed companies. She also suggested that anyone, who doubts that a bogus company is attempting to get his/her information, he/she could forward that e-mail to www.phishtank.com or www.antiphishing.org to check whether it is real or false.

Meanwhile, the police advised residents to take precautions against the current scam. They also recommended that any person getting a similar e-mail should avoid it. In addition, the person should first contact his/her bank and then contact the Police Department in order that both can initiate immediate actions.

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» SPAMfighter News - 8/20/2008