Everyone Please Read, Very Important Warning!

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bossinova

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I got a fraudulant email today from "Bank of America" warning me that someone had tried to access my online account information several times, and they had reason to believe that my information had been stolen. It then directed me to click on the link provided and "verify" all of my information. It asked for my name, account number, password, ATM card number, expiration date, and the three digits on the back of the card (you know, the three digits they ask you for whenever you are purchasing something online??!) At this point, I started getting a bit suspicious, so I called the bank, and they told me it was a fraud email! I couldn't believe it, the website was identical, the web address was http://bankofamerica.com (rather than http://www.bankofamerica.com)....Crazy! So I cancelled my account and was assigned a new one.
Although I contacted the bank literally minutes within my receipt of the email, my information had already been retrieved from whoever is running the fake website and they changed my address, while I was on the phone with an account rep!
I consider myself very fortunate to not be a complete victim of fraud, but man was I close.
Please, please, please, be very cautious! I always thought I was, but this brought new light to my eyes. These thieves are smart and tricky. I'm not kidding you, the website looked exactly like the official bank of america website. If you ever get an email like this (or phone call or anything), don't hesitate to call your bank first. I've seen tons of emails sent to me about things like this happening to people, and you just think to yourself "gosh, that really sucks for that person". But now I am one of those people, this is real, and it most certainly can happen to anyone! Ok, I'm done ranting now
 
rosiemac

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This is happening all over the UK and their sites look very very similar to the actual banks, but all banks tell you that they will never contact you asking for any details by e-mail and to delete them straight away.

My Directors son actually replied to one from his bank like this and gave all his details, and £3000 was taken from his account.
 
catsknowme

catsknowme

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What an awful experience for you to have experienced. The only good thing to come from this is that you are able to warn others. Yahoo! had sent me a warning, but I shudder to think of all the more gullible people in our society (for instance,the elderly and the brain-injured) who will not have your foresight to call the bank and suffer horrendous consequences such as the instance that RosieMac wrote about. Thanks for the alert!!!!!!!! Susan
 
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bossinova

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That's so awful! I know I am lucky because I'm certain that would have been my fate if I hadn't called my bank (not that I have that much money, but hey, I need what I have!!). Was he able to get his money back?
 
rosiemac

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He did, but it took a few weeks, and they still havent tracked the person down yet because like you say these people are so clever!.

This person opened up 2 bogus accounts with the bank with someones stolen details and had the money transferred that way.

Theres adverts on the t.v. here at the moment telling you to dispose of anything with your name and address on carefully because these sort of people rummage through your trash to get the info like that!.
 
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savethekitties

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Originally Posted by bossinova

I got a fraudulant email today from "Bank of America" warning me that someone had tried to access my online account information several times, and they had reason to believe that my information had been stolen. It then directed me to click on the link provided and "verify" all of my information. It asked for my name, account number, password, ATM card number, expiration date, and the three digits on the back of the card (you know, the three digits they ask you for whenever you are purchasing something online??!) At this point, I started getting a bit suspicious, so I called the bank, and they told me it was a fraud email! I couldn't believe it, the website was identical, the web address was http://bankofamerica.com (rather than http://www.bankofamerica.com)....Crazy! So I cancelled my account and was assigned a new one.
Although I contacted the bank literally minutes within my receipt of the email, my information had already been retrieved from whoever is running the fake website and they changed my address, while I was on the phone with an account rep!
I consider myself very fortunate to not be a complete victim of fraud, but man was I close.
Please, please, please, be very cautious! I always thought I was, but this brought new light to my eyes. These thieves are smart and tricky. I'm not kidding you, the website looked exactly like the official bank of america website. If you ever get an email like this (or phone call or anything), don't hesitate to call your bank first. I've seen tons of emails sent to me about things like this happening to people, and you just think to yourself "gosh, that really sucks for that person". But now I am one of those people, this is real, and it most certainly can happen to anyone! Ok, I'm done ranting now
Click to expand...
These kind of emails are prolific. I report 3 or 4 a week back to Banking establishments.

One thing you can try doing when you get an email like this from a banking institution is to hold your mouse over the link. It will then show you the actual website link you are being directed to in a popup comment. If the link is an IP address (like http://255.255.255.255/somedirectory) or does not reflect the name of your bank then more than likely it is a fraudulent attempt to get your data.

Another thing to check if you do click through on a link is the address that shows up in your address bar of your browser. It should clearly reflect the name of your establishment and should be very similar to the address you would normally use.
 
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eatrawfish

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I think it is a good practice never to enter any account/atm/password info when directed from an email, no matter how legit it looks. These companies will never request you do so via e-mail.

I also shred any mail I get with any offers/info on it, maybe I'm paranoid, but that's OK.
 
rosehawke

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Originally Posted by SaveTheKitties

These kind of emails are prolific. I report 3 or 4 a week back to Banking establishments.

One thing you can try doing when you get an email like this from a banking institution is to hold your mouse over the link. It will then show you the actual website link you are being directed to in a popup comment. If the link is an IP address (like http://255.255.255.255/somedirectory) or does not reflect the name of your bank then more than likely it is a fraudulent attempt to get your data.

Another thing to check if you do click through on a link is the address that shows up in your address bar of your browser. It should clearly reflect the name of your establishment and should be very similar to the address you would normally use.
Click to expand...
And then you can do a "whois" on the IP address and see who it's really registered to. I have fun doing this sometimes --- I mean really , China? Russia? NIGERIA???
 
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savethekitties

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BTW if in doubt the Banking Establishment will have on its website (go through your normal access not through an email link) an email or form for fraud such as this. By sending the email to them they may be able to track down the sender and deal with the perp
 
ash_bct

ash_bct

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Just to let the Canadians know this is going on here as well! In Calgary there is a real problem with people going through trash so please be careful!
 
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krazy kat2

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I get those things all the time. I delete any email that I do not recognize the sender. I am quite sure nobody wants to give me a free TV, send me on a free cruise, or anything else. I get an average of 40 spam emails a day. I finally managed to get the ones to the porn sites stopped. Every time you enter any kind of sweepstakes, sign up for any of those opinion polls or give out information of any kind, all kinds of advertisers get it. I ordered medication on line once, over a year ago, and get about 10 emails a day for prescription medication sites.
 
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bossinova

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I usually would have disreguarded the email and tossed it as I do with many others I receive daily. However, the sender said Bank of America (I know, that really means nothing), and the message was Account Update. In hindsight, I should have disreguarded this as well and simply called the bank.

What's interesting is that the website it took me to was http://bankofamerica.com/secure...(there was other stuff, numbers and things). And when I hovered over the link as suggested earlier, it just gave me the pointer hand and didn't give me any information regarding what the true address was.

I would like to report this very email to the bank...How do I do that? Also, RoseHawk...How do I do the "whois" you are talking about? I'd like to know for future reference. Thanks!
 
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