The email below is a classic 'phish' with a web link attached to the message. (NEVER CLICK ON LINKS OR HTML ICONS THAT ARE CONTAINED IN EMAILS LIKE THIS; in fact I never click on links that are sent to me by ANYONE - even friends, if a friend sends one I send them an email back asking what it is and then I still may not click on it)Why shouldn't you click on links?
Simple - links can take you to web sites that contain 'malware' such as computer viruses, key-loggers and could even turn your computer into being part of a 'bot network. This email in fact came from a valid email address at a real company - clearly they have a virus or are part of a bot net.
Now - back to the email below. It is a phish (it is like they are 'fishing' for your information by dangling the bait of a problem with your account. They are trying to scare you into believing your account at HSBC (if you have one) has been suspended for some mysterious reason. You can reinstate the account by going to the HTML link they so kindly provided. If it is not loaded with malware, it will look exactly like the HSBC bank website and will ask you some questions for you to fill in on the website. It will all be personal (and confidential) information.
At some point they will ask you to confirm your account number and your password for that account.
Give them those things and THEY CAN CLEAN YOUR ACCOUNT OUT AND EVEN ACCESS ANY CREDIT LINES YOU MAY HAVE WITH HSBC - YOU WILL BE LEFT PENNILESS!
No banks or credit card companies will EVER ASK YOU FOR THIS TYPE OF INFORMATION. You never should give this information out unless you are using your financial institution's real website.
Some tips:
- This type of email should raise a red flag!
- If you receive something similar - CALL your bank or credit card company using ONLY the phone numbers you have for them. Never call a phone number on an email like this - it will just go to the scammer and they are so good sometimes, they will trick you into believing they are the bank - they are not!
- Again - never click on links or HTML pages contained in an email
HSBC Bank Plc. notify@hsbc.co.uk
reply-tonotify@hsbc.co.uk
to
dateFri, Jun 24, 2011 at 8:38 AM
subjectYour account has been suspended ,
hide details 8:38 AM (10 hours ago)
Dear Customer,
We detected irregular activity on your HSBC
Internet banking account on 23/06/2011.
For your protection, you must verify this
activity before you can continue using your
account.
Please download the document attached to this
email to review your account activity.
We will review the activity on your account
with you and upon verification,
we will remove any restrictions placed on
your account.
If you choose to ignore our request, you leave us no choice
but to temporary suspend your account.
We ask that you allow at least 72 hours for the case to be
investigated and we strongly recommend to verify your
account in that time.
Best Regards,
Paul Say
Head of Customer Communications
© Copyright HSBC Holdings plc 2011 - All rights reservedrved
Verify.html
42K View Download
No comments:
Post a Comment