Warning; Phishing E-mails Pretending to be Tesco Bank

Internet-users have been cautioned against one malicious electronic mail campaign that poses as a Tesco Bank communication, published hartlepoolmail.co.uk dated January 8, 2013.

Actually, one Mr. Thomas Barlow from Hartelpool (Dobson Place, UK) got an e-mail supposedly from Tesco Bank, which addressing the recipient as Tesco client, congratulated the user on having his e-mail id randomly chosen to become winner of the bank's Christmas present coupon worth 2,000 pounds. For redeeming the coupon, the user required activating via following a given web-link. The message then warned that if information entered was incorrect then the activation wouldn't happen. And once activated, the bank would send the coupon to the user via post while it'd also send an e-mail notice, the message concluded.

But, according to Barlow, the e-mail instantly caught his suspicion as he never transacted with Tesco, published hartlepoolmail.co.uk.

A Tesco Bank Spokeswoman stated that the e-mail wasn't genuine, neither was it a promotion from the bank. Clients who got electronic mails, which looked dubious, must send them at phishing@tescobank.com so investigation could be conducted, while illegitimate websites disabled, she explained. Hartlepoolmail.co.uk published this.

Moreover as per analysts examining the currently spreading e-mail scam, the said coupon is simply a lure for trapping unwitting recipients similar as Mr. Barlow within the aforementioned instance. If anyone clicks the web-link he'll get led onto a fake site directing him for typing in his username and then logging in. If subsequently he hits on the 'Log-in' field then he'll be led onto another bogus web-page, which will direct him to enter his e-mail id/password, phone number along with back access credentials.

However, once the requested details are entered and submitted, there'll be an automatic redirection of the victim towards the real Tesco site, the analysts disclose.

Meanwhile, the scammers are likely to gather the entire data entered on the fraudulent site as also utilize it for compromising actual Tesco Internet accounts just like hijacking Mr. Barlow's sensitive information if he were to get victimized.

Therefore, as per Trading Standards' suggestion, anyone getting the above e-mail or one like it, must never follow any web-links while erase the message instantly.

Related article: Warnings Ineffective: Consumers Responding to Internet Scams

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