Just because an e-mail from a “bank” is sent to you and it is in perfect Afrikaans, don’t be fooled into thinking it is legitimate.
The following e-mail was sent to a number of South African addresses and is a very clever and convincing attempt to obtain users banking details and PIN codes. What is frightening about this mail is that it is written in near-perfect Afrikaans and would fool most people including myself – if I weren’t so paranoid.
Take a look at the following mail message. It looks very convincing but some spelling mistakes give it away but are not easily seen!
Subject: Absa Kredietkaart Rekening Staat -Fooi Afgetrek
There is an attached .html file (a web page) which immediately should tell you that something is wrong.
Here is what the web page looks like:
On closer inspection of the webpage coding reveals that this is a phishing scam run by a syndicate whose servers are currently in Italy.
- If you use this page to type in your Account number, PIN code and password, you will have given the criminals free and open access to your bank account (if you were with ABSA)
- ABSA, or any bank, would never send you e-mail containing links and ask you to click on that link to verify ANY personal information, especially account numbers or PIN codes.
- Embedded html pages would never be included because they can be easily compromised (like this one)
- Don’t be fooled by alarming subjects like “Fooi Afgetrek”, “Security Upgrade”, “Illegal Access to your account” or if the mail is in Afrikaans!
(INFORMATION SUPPLIED BY DAVID WILES)
Tags: phishing