Warning issued by Thai Bankers’ Association about a phishing scam affecting numerous local banks

A warning has been issued by Thai Bankers' Association about a recent ongoing phishing scam that is affecting numerous local banks. Moreover, the TBA has also said that the victims who have fallen prey to the phishing scam luckily are still very less. Thailand Banking Sector Computer Emergency Response Team's (TB-CERT) Committee Chairman, Kitti Kosavisutte, said that it is since January 25, 2019, that phishing scams become much widespread in Thailand, though there are no financial loss reports till now. TB-CERT is a financial institutions group under Thai Bankers' Association.

It has been estimated that only 2% phishing email recipients became victim of a scam by giving their personal information to the criminals, whereas around 20 phishing websites were recorded - which is marginally up from the recent years, said Mr. Kitti.

The TB-CERT Committee Chairman further said that, "consumer awareness about cyberthreats has continued to improve, so losses are expected to be marginal. However, further monitoring of phishing attempts is needed, particularly through social media". As per Mr. Kitti, these phishing attacks are on the rise more because of the Social Media.

As per the new research from Proofpoint, a cybersecurity firm, phishing attacks, credential compromise and social engineering have shown a rise in number in the year 2018; thus highlighting on the fact that cybercriminals still continue to target the end users.

Phishing is a technique through which the fraudsters attempt to gain confidential information of users, like credit card details, usernames, passwords, etc., after disguising as a trusted entity via online channels. The scheme directed the users to forged websites to get personal information of victims, and then spread the malware for financial fraud.

In order to safeguard from these phishing attacks, the consumers are always instructed to avoid clicking untrusted email or links and also should not provide their personal information. Moreover, they have been advised to contact the bank immediately whenever they receive any suspicious email or link to any website.

The TB-CERT Committee Chairman also said that "if consumers have already given personal information to offenders, they should change their password or contact their banks".

» SPAMfighter News - 2/12/2019