Absa Faces Two New E-mail Scams

A leading South African bank - Absa - is warning its customers to remain cautious of two scam e-mails that are making rounds on the Internet and targeting its customers.

As iol.co.za reported January 14, 2010, one of the scam e-mails falsely asserts that account holders with Absa are entitled to obtain a return on the bank charges incurred last year (2009). It further urges them to type in their personal banking details by following a link provided in the e-mail in order to qualify for the benefit.

Another fake e-mail is claiming that Absa, following an incident of attempted breach, is looking to update its online security. For this, customers are required to click a given link to verify their identity so as to avoid restricted access to Internet banking.

Commenting on these e-mail scams, the Bank released a statement in which it said that these are fake e-mails wherein the con artists have used every single tactic, including luring, shocking, threatening and scaring, to trick users, reported jacarandafm.com on January 14, 2010.

Managing Executive of Digital Channels of Absa, Christo Very, stated that these e-mails are posing a continuous challenge to the bank, particularly as the criminals are modifying and adapting the messages so that there are constantly fresher versions of fake e-mails which are to be used in committing such type of frauds, reported jacarandafm.com on January 14, 2010.

The Bank suggested users to be suspicious of the e-mails asking for their personal details, especially credit card or banking details, and to forward any such e-mail directly to the Bank and then to delete it instantly. Absa further reminded its users that it never asks for their details as it already has those required details in its records.

Finally, the Bank gave some tips to its customers so that they can easily avoid falling for such scams. It said that they should never click-open links given in suspicious e-mails as these links can lead them to phishing sites. Even before that, users should update their Internet security software so that spam could be restricted from entering into their inboxes.

Related article: APACS Reports Phishing On The Rise

» SPAMfighter News - 1/21/2010