Forum Topic

ALERT:  Spam e-mail from banks?

I have just received two spam e-mails supposedly from banks requesting updating my personal internet banking details.  The first was from Barclays and the second from Lloyds TSB.  Fortunately I bank with neither.  The details required are everything a thief would want to empty your account and, your overdraft facility if you have one.  Pasted below is the one from Lloyds TSBWelcome to Internet BankingTo complete the security update please enter your Memorable Information and confirm your details.Please click on 'Help' if you require further assistance.Enter your details to complete the security updateUser ID:Password:Memorable word:First name:Last name:Mother maiden name:Home Phone Number:Mobile Phone Number:Postcode:Telephone banking security number(6 digit) or password:Date of birth:    Credit/Debit Card Number:Expiration Date:    Security Code:ATM PIN:Account number:Sortcode:Remember my user ID [?]Warning: Don’t tick this box if you’re using a public or shared computer    Forgotten your password?    Forgotten your user ID?    Having problems logging in?

Nicola Howard ● 5321d12 Comments

Verify 1Hide DetailsFROM:        helpdesk@lloydstsb.co.uk  Message flaggedTuesday, 21 February 2012, 14:01Dear Lloyds TSB Bank Customer,Your account is suspended due to multiple number of incorrect login attempts.For your protection, we have suspended your account.To reactivate your login access please download the form attachedto your email and update your details.Regards,Simon RichardDirector, Lloyds TSB Bank Current AccountsLloyds TSB Bank plc and Lloyds TSB Scotland plc are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authorityexcept for lending where we are licensed by The Office of Fair Trading. FSA authorisation can be checked onthe FSAЎ¦s Register at: www.fsa.gov.uk/register. Lloyds TSB Bank plc and Lloyds TSB Scotland plc are membersof the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and the Financial Ombudsman Service.We subscribe to the Lending Code; copies of the Code can be obtained from www.lendingstandardsboard.org.uk.Copyright (c) Lloyds TSB Bank Plc.

Nicola Howard ● 5321d

This sort of stuff has been in circulation for ages and people have been warned against it time and again. Any decent browser will warn you it's a known phishing site if you try to click through.

Susan Kelly ● 5321d

I get these frequently, and also from BT requesting log in deails.  They can be reported to banksafeonline.org.uk

Nina Battleday ● 5321d

I too get these frequently and have done so for a long time! Today I have had 3 Santander ones, 2 Nationwide and 5 from Amazon (the e-mail address they are supposedly from says notice@amazone.co.uk). They can't even get the addresses right! If you 'hover' your cursor over the link you see the address the link opens. I had some that when you 'hovered' over the link there was a message in French - which when translated asked you to do something before 30th February 2010!!! Did we have two extra days in Feb 2010?I know the bank I deal with would never address a message to me as 'Dear Valued Customer' or any other such term. They would always be sent to me personally with my name and e-mail address and a security check detail. Also they would be written in grammatically correct English!

Amanda Knights ● 5321d

Got this one today and, this one was NOT in the spam boxDear Friend,      With due respect to your person and  sincerity of purpose which made me to contact you as I believe you will be of great assistance to me. It's my urgent need for foreign partner that made me to contact you for this transaction. I am a banker by profession from Burkina Faso in West Africa and currently holding the post of Director Auditing and Accounting unit of the bank.  I have the opportunity of transferring the left over funds ($11.5 million) of one of my bank clients who died along with his entire family on 31 July 2000 in a plane crash. You can confirm the genuiness of the deceased death by clicking on this web site.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/859479.stmHence, I am inviting you for a business deal where this money can be shared between us in the ratio of 60/40. If you agree to my business proposal. further details of the transfer will be forwarded to you as soon as i receive your return mail. I want to assure you that this transaction is absolutely legal and risk free since i work in this bank and i have all the necessary information that might be needed.Have a great day.  Yours.Omar Diallo

Nicola Howard ● 5315d

Nicola - I think this is the oldest one in the book!

Nina Battleday ● 5315d

Nicola, if this is the first time you have had e-mails like this, then you are very lucky! We regularly get them, and we just delete them. There must be some gullible people who respond these scams, but I think the majority of people see them for what they are - rubbish - and immediately delete them. It's like the telephone call from 'Microsoft Technical Department' which I had yet again yesterday. I know they aren't from Microsoft - because Microsoft would not have a telephone number for me, and they would not phone people to tell them there was a virus on their computer! How would they know? All another big scam.

Amanda Knights ● 5315d

My aged Dad's had the Microsoft call a number of times despite telling them each time that he hasn't got a computer.

Susan Kelly ● 5314d

Interesting, I NEVER EVER get spam like this, or for viagra, penis extensions etc. I use Outlook and have Norton 360. My late wife with Hotmail was forever getting such stuff......

Iain Muir ● 5314d

My ISP uses Spamassassin and Clam anti-virus to provide an optional filtering service, so I rarely see any junk or spam delivered here, and any that may arrive is clearly labelled with a score mark. Spamassassin examines the content and sets a score based on what it has "learned" from corrections submitted by users, and I so rarely see junk that I have not even bothered to run it myself yet. If and when I do set it up it will learn my own personal preferences, since what is poison to one user may be required by another.Opening a junk email risks opening an included link to a remote site which will confirm your address and invite unwanted additional content. My email reader is deliberately configured to treat all emails as plain ASCII text, so it will show but not open any links from the contents. Known active addresses are collected and sold over the internet.

Chris Bell ● 5314d

Before putting the phone down (again) I told the last 'Microsoft' caller I knew it was a scam - he sounded quite outraged at the insult!Snopes is a good place to check these multitudinous scams if you're not sure:http://www.snopes.com/fraud/fraud.asp

Lorna Dodd ● 5314d

Out of interest, I received a plain text email (1,319 bytes) asking me to look at an attached "Word" file (404,615 bytes) which had fancy text but appeared to have relatively little content. The plain text extracted was just 1,688 bytes. I have an unlimited data connection but communicate with people who read all their emails on a mobile phone over restricted bandwidth. Some systems can generate mail as plain or fancy text, and some are configured to send both by default.

Chris Bell ● 5314d