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Latest phishing scam “most devious ever” (2004)

March 4th, 2004

Heard from your bank lately? The mail really, really looks like it’s from the bank. But do you think for one moment that the bank will feel responsible if you click on the scam email and confirm your bank details, then loose all of your funds to an outside trickster?

Typically, phishing scam e-mails appear to have been sent from the victim’s bank, and contain a link to a fake version of the bank’s Web site and instructions to log on to the site to verify their credentials with the bank.

Rob Forsyth, managing director at anti-virus vendor Sophos, believes that the techniques used by online confidence tricksters in the latest Westpac e-mail indicate the scheme is reaching new heights of sophistication.

According to Sophos the scammers have become better impostors, incorporating phrasing and wording into the email that the bank’s customers would be familiar with from previous authentic advisories it had issued such as: ‘Westpac will never ask for your personal or login details by e-mail’ — even though it then proceeds to direct the reader to do just that.

Coaching moment: Trust is also part of your identity. Do not hurry into trust. If you don’t know if an email or phone call is really from your bank, call your bank and ask. Tricksters will not leave their real email address or phone number so you can get back to them later.

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