LCNB Bank Releases Warning of Phishing Scam to its Customers

The Lebanon (Ohio, USA) based bank, LCNB Corp., has cautioned users about a computer scam asking for private details. Many residents have complained about a suspicious e-mail on March 6, 2009, claiming to be from LCNB.

The bank states that the e-mail message asks the recipients to update their private details on the web. LCNB further says that in the e-mail, recipients are given a link that takes them to a site that appears authentic, but it is not the bank's website. Apart from the link, the recipients are also provided with a phone number to call and give their private details. Interestingly, the e-mail messages have been sent to both customers and non-customers of the LCNB bank.

President of LCNB bank, Steve Foster, claims that it seems to be reaching everywhere and indiscriminately sent by the scammers, as reported by Middletown Journal on March 06, 2009. Foster further states that bank authorities are working with police to close the inauthentic sites and disconnect the contact numbers, which appear to be out of the state.

Moreover, the bank is suggesting residents not to reply to the message. LCNB will never contact users through mail to ask for private details. The bank also informs that if anyone gets the mail, he/she should not click on the link and delete the e-mail immediately.

In addition, the Police claimed that hackers collect or phish for phone numbers and mail addresses to steal personal identity. For this, they use the name of a financial institution for deceiving as many users as they can. Also, in the last week of February 2009, a similar phishing scam attacking MidFirst Credit Union based in Middletown (USA) was reported.

In the mean time, e-mail phishing conventionally ranks among the leading 10 Internet frauds. As per a report based on surveys of 5,000 adults and published by research company Gartner Inc., an estimated 7.5% of US adults lost their money to some kind of financial fraud during 2008 and out of them, 13% were victims of phishing e-mails.

» SPAMfighter News - 3/12/2009