Financial scams and fraudulent emails

This will be a part series as there are a lot of scams out there looking to take your money so we will explore them one at a time.

The first and probably the most seen scam is the ‘fake Bank Emails’. Here are some of the tell tale signs of this typical fraud, and some safety checks you can use to avoid them.

How the scam works

You will get an email out of the blue from some bank, credit card company or some other service you use. It usually asks for your details, maybe your PIN or account details. Various tricks are used to lower your guard, such as ’security and maintenance upgrades’, ‘investigation of irregularities’ or ‘bills or charges due’.

Why they look so real

Fraudsters scan the internet for email addresses or generate them at random. They don’t need an online service provider’s mailing lists. They may send just a few dozen emails or thousands. Even if only a few unsuspecting people bite, it can be worth the effort. These emails can look genuine by using:

  • the names of real people
  • the right logos and branding
  • links to pages from the real website
  • official-looking fine print
  • a site that mimics the real thing. Technically, it’s quite easy to copy and paste genuine pages to a new fake address.

How they can steal more from you

Not only do they count on you to provide your personal data they hope you will click a link that is sometimes provided and Spyware and or trojans can be installed on your computer. These computer programs conceal hidden programming to spy on you and send your secret passwords and PINs back to criminals.

Here are the prime examples

Some of the biggest names on the internet have been targeted.

  • eBay – this scam involved a series of fake emails used to steal users’ credit card numbers and to commandeer eBay customers’ accounts and then defraud buyers using the eBay service.
  • PayPal – users received e-mails masquerading as official PayPal alerts that asked recipients to submit bank and credit card details after the user’s account has been randomly selected for maintenance and placed on “Limited Access” status.
  • Melbourne IT – deceptive emails lured Melbourne IT customers to a mimic site where they were advised to input their financial details – including credit card numbers to – renew their domain name registrations. The mimic site had a similar URL to the official Melbourne IT URL address.
  • Westpac Banking Corporation – customers were sent emails inviting them to complete an online survey for a chance to win attractive prizes. Although the URL displayed was similar to the Westpac address, in fact it directed users to a non-Westpac site, Customers needed to log in their account details to participate in the survey.
  • There are a number of other fake emails from home loan lenders and finance companies offering similar baits so be weary.

So what do you do if you think you have been had – ASIC is a member of the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce. This Taskforce was set up in 2005 and comprises 19 government agencies in Australia and New Zealand with responsibility for consumer protection regarding frauds and scams. For more information about the Taskforce, visit the SCAMwatch website New window.

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