Phishing

[Rebar]

Phishing is the practice of sending out fake emails, or spam, written to appear as if they have been sent by banks or other reputable organisations, with the intent of luring the recipient into revealing sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, account IDs, ATM PINs or credit card details. Typically, phishing attacks will direct the recipient to a web page designed to mimic a target organisation's own visual identity and to harvest the user's personal information, often leaving the victim unaware of the attack. Obtaining this type of personal data is attractive to blackhats because it allows an attacker to impersonate their victims and make fraudulent financial transactions. Victims often suffer significant financial losses or have their entire identity stolen, usually for criminal purposes.

http://www.honeynet.org/papers/phishing/

I get a phishing email every couple of days or so, which I just laugh at and delete. But for less experienced folks, it poses a real hazard. So, I recommend that you talk to your friends and family, and let them know about phishing and not to respond to them.

Here is a phishing email I got this week:

Dear Valued Customer,

In accordance with Bank One's Consumer Agreement and to guarantee that your account has not been compromised, access to your savings account was blocked. Your online access will remain blocked until this issue has been resolved. We are contacting you to remind you that on May 21, 2005 our Online Review Team identified some uncommon activity in your Debit Card account. Banking Support recommend you to sign on and perform the steps requisite to give back your online access as soon as possible. Allowing your account access to remain limited for a long period of time may effect in further restrictions on the use of your bank account and possible account closure.


Login to Online Banking

To protect the confidence of your online accss, employs some of the most leading online safety systems in the world and our anti-fraud teams hourly screen the Bank system for fraud activity.Bank One, Member FDIC, is committed to supporting a safe environment for our clients. %

Thank you for your prompt attention to this question. We apologize for any inconvenience.This is a security procedure meant to help protect you and your online account.

Best regards,

Bank One Card, Online Account Support

 

[R.H. Lee]

I constantly get those kinds of emails, which Thunderbird recognizes as junk and treats them accordingly. HOWEVER, Zonealarm Antivirus finds 'phishbank. * .html" files which it can't seem to get rid of. AdAware can't, either. Last time I had to go to Pandasoftware and do the online scan to delete them.

 

[Art Eatman]

Locked as OT, but it's worth stickying for a few days...

Art