Phishing Scam Falls Upon Kiwibank Customers

Internet scammers have attacked Kiwibank twice over two weeks from the last week of May to the first week of June. The last phishing scam occurred on June 4, 2007 when a huge number of New Zealanders received e-mails telling them to enroll with the Kiwibank for "Customer Appreciation Day" on June 7, 2007.

The sender of the e-mails was Kiwibank[mailto:customers@kiwibank.co.nz], a fake entity that led the customers to a fraudulent site asking them to register with their account and pin numbers. There was also an invitation to customers to visit any Kiwibank branch on 7th June for a party of coffee and cake as a gesture of the bank to thank them for their faithful allegiance.

According to Kiwibank the present scam was different from the earlier one. The first scam used the Kiwibank logo in its e-mail and tried to trick customers into entering the embedded link. Then they were asked to update their private details to become an eligible customer for money guaranteeing policy of the bank. On the other hand, the latest scam involved e-mail that asked customers to open a link in order to enroll their account and avail an opportunity to win a sum of $30,000 CAD and a new Mercedes-Benz SLK.

Mr. Bruce Thompson, spokesman for Kiwibank said the bank was serious about the problem. The New Zealand Herald published Thompson's statement on June 5, 2007. Various scams from North America, Russia and Asia had already hit the bank. Thompson said each scam was only slightly different from the other but all essentially wanted customers' personal information.

Mr. Thompson further said customers were becoming more alert to scams of this kind. Sooner as the messages started coming on June 4, 2007, people in large numbers called the bank for help. As customers apply greater caution than before in revealing their bank account particulars, the phishing scams get more sophisticated, Thompson added.

Kiwibank once again reminds the public that it never asks for personal bank information via e-mail. Kiwibank suggests its customers not to disclose their pin or access numbers as a response to any e-mail or site asking that information.

Related article: Phishing With A Redirector Code

» SPAMfighter News - 6/16/2007