 Help Expose Scams |
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MDF3530  |
 Posted: 25-Jan-2004, 09:10 PM
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Celtic Guardian
Group: Celtic Nation
Posts: 7,290
Joined: 30-Jul-2002
Zodiac: Willow
Realm: Midlothian, IL
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Here's a great website for outing scams and urban legends...
Snopes.com Urban Legends Reference Page
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Mike F.May the Irish hills caress you.
May her lakes and rivers bless you.
May the luck of the Irish enfold you.
May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you.
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| scottish2 |
Posted: 25-Jan-2004, 09:11 PM
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Celtic Guardian
Group: Celtic Nation
Posts: 3,048
Joined: 26-Sep-2001
Zodiac: Birch
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| QUOTE | Press Releases
Joint Release FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FDIC-PR-6-2004 January 23, 2004
FDIC And FBI Investigating Fraudulent Emails
At approximately 12:00 p.m. (EST) on January 23, 2004, FDIC Consumer Call Centers in Kansas City, Missouri, and Washington, D.C., began receiving a large number of complaints by consumers who received an email that has the appearance of being sent from the FDIC. The email informs the recipient that Department of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge has advised the FDIC to suspend all deposit insurance on the recipient?s bank account due to suspected violations of the USA PATRIOT Act. The email further indicates that deposit insurance will be suspended until personal identity, including bank account information, can be verified.
This email was not sent by the FDIC and is a fraudulent attempt to obtain personal information from consumers. Financial institutions and consumers should NOT access the link provided within the body of the email and should NOT under any circumstances provide any personal information through this media.
The FDIC and the FBI are attempting to identify the source of the emails and disrupt the transmission. Until this is achieved, consumers are asked to report any similar attempts to obtain this information to the FDIC by sending information to a[email protected].
Media Contacts:
FDIC: David Barr, 202-898-6992
FBI: Paul Bresson, 202-324-3691
# # #
Last Updated 01/23/2004 [email protected] |
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| MDF3530 |
Posted: 25-Jan-2004, 09:32 PM
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Celtic Guardian
Group: Celtic Nation
Posts: 7,290
Joined: 30-Jul-2002
Zodiac: Willow
Realm: Midlothian, IL
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Here's one I heard of the other day on the news...
Snopes.com: Citibank
| QUOTE |
Claim: Citibank is sending out notices asking customers to log in and verify their accounts.
Status: False.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2004]
Origins:
The notice reproduced above is yet another redirection scam (also known as "phishing") intended to deceive recipients into disclosing their credit card numbers, bank account information, Social Security numbers, passwords, and other sensitive information. Citibank customers were the target of at least two similar scams in 2003 (covered on our site here and here).
In this case the fraudulent message appears to be coming from Citibank itself, falsely announces that Citibank has had to "block some accounts connected with money laundering, credit card fraud, terrorism and check fraud activity," and urges recipients to log in using the provided link and "check their checking and savings accounts" to verify that the accounts are still active and the current balances are correct. However, the page the user is taken to after clicking the link does not reside on Citibank's site; it's a phony page hosted on a Korean web site and camouflaged to look like a real Citibank page. After the user attempts to log in through the phony page (supplying his ATM or credit card number and PIN in the process), he's presented with an error message proclaiming that the login failed due to a "system overload" and is then redirected to the real Citibank site (thus helping to obscure that he supplied sensitive account information to a non-Citibank site).
Scams that trick the trusting into revealing private information by having them "confirm" details presumably already in the possession of the one doing the asking fall under the broad heading of "social engineering," a fancy term for getting people to part with key pieces of information simply by asking them for it. The wary consumer's best defense to such maneuvers is a zipped lip (or, in the online world, an untapped keyboard). Protect yourself by volunteering nothing, even if you feel somewhat pressured by the one doing the inquiring. If someone on the telephone asks you to read off your checking account number for "verification," ask him instead to recite it to you from his records. If you get an e-mail announcing something dire has befallen one of your on-line accounts and requiring you to re-enter sensitive personal data to get things back on track, do not reply to it, and do not fill out any forms that accompany it or click through any hot links it provides. Instead, contact that service by telephone and ask them about the e-mail (or go directly to their web site ? don't follow links provided in e-mail messages.) (Citibank also maintains an on-line form for reporting suspicious e-mails.)
The con artists are getting more sophisticated all the time, so do not be too quick to mistake the appearance of legitimacy or authority with legitimacy itself. Just because an e-mail looks like it comes from an entity you do business with doesn't mean it's genuine, and just because you're being directed to a web page that looks like that entity's home page doesn't mean you're not being sent somewhere else. Beware the wolf in sheep's clothing lest you end up his dinner. |
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