Banking and Phishing Scams

One of the popular methods where the common people fall to victim is by responding to those fake bank emails which asks you to give your personal and complete banking information. These emails are carefully crafted looking similar to that of the actual ones from the legitimate bank. The skilled scammers even replicate the logos, layout and general tone of such emails to uncanny degrees. On assuming those emails to be true many innocent users fall prey by sending their bank account number, password and even attach their transaction slips.

To avoid falling victim to such spoof bank emails is to curb them closely. Never assume that such messages originate from legitimate sources. Be especially vigilant if the email requests information from you

This spoof bank websites are not actually allowed to authentically show their run on website as like regular domain part. You are directed by some false links or messages to log on to those duplicated websites which resembles as the generic bank website logins. Once you log in by entering your valid credentials the scammers take the entire control of your transaction. The way to notice the spoof bank websites is that you may very often get popup windows that ask you to enter your bank details. Never follow a link to your bank's website. Always type the URL manually into your browser's address bar.

This is one of the crucial types of banking scams where the scammer collect the list of email address abruptly without having any knowledge of the users. Later they try filtering the email id's associating with bank login address which they manage to get from some third party which they claim as the dropped or changeable mail address of the user. The scammers buy lists of address from those third party intruders for huge chunks of money. On having those email id's they send mail representing as the bank manager or some related high officials notifying that you are under some trouble related transaction process. They also claim in order to resolve the problem you need to login with new user account and password which have to be shared with scammer, a so called bank official.

Be cautious while responding back to any of your bank related information. If something important really needs your attention, you should be alerted about it somewhere on the online interface.

As technology develops and financial transactions move online, fraudsters have greater opportunities to trick unsuspecting people. Phishing is a time-honored method thieves use to lead visitors to websites that appear authentic while really stealing their personal data. In banking and phishing scams, con artists attempt to bring customers to a fake bank website that seems authentic, where they are prompted to submit sensitive personal data like credit card numbers and other information.

These are emails that are sent out in bulk by the scammers. These spoof bank emails appear to be like an email from the bank replicating the logo's the style of writing and every single aspect of the email. These emails redirect you to a phishing page designed just to conquer the user's personal information.

These websites find open their doors from the spoof bank emails that are sent out in bulk to the target victims. Spoof bank websites are legitimate looking replica websites of banks. These are carefully designed by the scammers to cheat the users.

Below is an example of the famous chase bank phishing scam example. The scammers sent emails to thousands of users, redirecting them to fake phishing websites. It was very difficult to judge these websites as they had used the same logo of the bank. The emails forced the users to fill up their information in the case otherwise the bank accounts would be closed. The urgency shown in the email was a clear sign that the email was not from a legitimate source.

The example of a bank phishing fraud that cost $1 billion is shown below. The implication is that bank security is so poor that many individuals are losing money to phishing schemes. The thorough illustration in the screenshots demonstrates how the con artists strived to achieve their goal of defrauding the unwary users.

Since 2013, a group of scammers have scammed close to 300 million dollars from banks across the world. Majority of the victims are reported to be from Russia. The scammers are sending emails via a malware program called carbanak to the employees of various banks around the world. The ultimate aim of the scammers is to hack the administrative computer of the bank.

The malware that gets installed in the employee's computer record the keystrokes and send screenshots of the bank procedures to the scammer. In some cases, this malware also allows the scammer to remotely access the admin computer of the bank.

Once the bank's admin computer has been successfully breached, the fraudsters carry out all the actions necessary to make money. Scammers move funds from bank accounts to personal accounts, send funds to accounts overseas via e-payment systems, and program ATMs to disburse cash at predetermined times and locations. The con artists in bank and phishing schemes leave no stone untouched. When banks discover that money has been lost, it is already too late for bankers to stop the fraudsters' actions.

• Always verify the emails that you receive from banks. Spoof bank emails are on the rise and users are not able to differentiate between legitimate and spoof bank emails.
• Any email that redirects the users to a bank website should be verified. It is always a best practice to directly enter the URL of the bank website rather than to follow the link from emails. These links are always suspicious of phishing attacks.
• Any email from the bank that shows forceful entry of personal information or any urgency should be verified before any action to the call.
• Banks have tightened their security are making their users aware of fake and fraudulent calls and emails that are sent by scammers, but there are many unknown ways that scammers operate to swindle money out of the innocent bank user's accounts. Users need to be very careful in dealing with these issues.