Password scams AKA: Phishing, are becoming a huge problem in the US. Many elderly people fall for these seemingly innocent emails that simply want to assist bank clients tighten there own security measures.
As you will see below, some are pretty convincing, while others are not. We all get emails such as these almost daily, and on occasion they do appear to be from a bank we do business with.
Never, under any circumstance, respond to any inquiry regarding your personal info or passwords. If you are coincidentally having log-in issues at the time you receive one of these emails, I assure you, it’s just that, a coincidence.
If you have banking issues, pick up the phone, or go to your bank. If your banks call you, do not give them your information, trust me, they already have it.
Confirm Your Online Banking Details
From:
Bank of America Alert <onlinebanking@alert.bankofamerica.com>
As part of our security measures, we regularly screen activity in the Bank Of America system. We recently contacted you after noticing an issue on your account.We requested information from you for the following reason:
We have reason to believe that your account was accessed by a third party. Because protecting the security of your account is our primary concern, we have limited access to sensitive Bank Of America account features. We understand that this may be an inconvenience but please understand that this temporary limitation is for your protection. Case ID Number:253-029-076.
In accordance with Bank Of America's User Agreement, your account access will remain limited until the issue has been resolved. Unfortunately, if access to your account remains limited for an extended period of time, it may result in further limitations or eventual account closure. We encourage you to log in to your Bank Of America account as soon as possible to help avoid this..
This is a reminder to log in to Bank Of America as soon as possible. You must confirm your credit card details and your billing information as well. All restricted accounts have their billing information unconfirmed, meaning that you may no longer send money from your account until you have updated your billing information on records. To initiate the update confirmation process. Please follow the link below and fill in the necessary requirements to ensure account safety. :
We thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Please understand that this is a security measure intended to help protect you and your account. We apologize for any inconvenience. Sincerely,
Thank you for your patience as we work together to protect your account.
Sincerely,
Bank of America Customer Service
*Important* Please update your records on or before 48 hours, a failure to update your records will result in a temporal hold on your funds.
Note: This is a service message with information related to your account(s).
This email is to notify you that you have a new message in your secure online mailbox from Customer service in response to you enquiry. To view your message, Choose your account type and Login below:
Personal Accounts- At Chase you can log on using your existing User ID and Password and learn more about our products and services.
Small Business Accounts- Manage your business - Financial solutions for companies and not-for-profits with annual revenue up to $10 million.
Commercial Accounts- Financial services for organizations with annual revenues ranging from $10 million to $2 billion.
This is email from Windows LiveHotmail® and we are sending to all account user for safety. Due to the anonymous registration of our account which is causing congestion to our service, so we are shutting down some account and your account was among those to be deleted,so the purpose of this email is for you to verify that you are the owner of this account and you are still using it by filling the information below after clicking on the reply button:
User Name:
Password:
Date Of Birth:
Country Or Territory:
After following the instructions in the sheet, your account will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Thanks for your attention to this request. We apologize for any inconveniences.
Account owner that refuse to update his/her account after 48 hours of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently.
Sincerely, The Windows LiveHotmail Team
From: Commonwealth Bank <bnbqht@google.com> Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 10:32:31 PM Subject: Unauthorized Activity !
All yahoo free account owners,We are having congestions due to the anonymous registration of yahoo accounts so we are shutting down some yahoo accounts and your account was among those to be deleted.We are sending you this email so that you can verify and let us know if you still want to use this account.If you are still interested please confirm your account by filling the space below. Your Username, Password, Date of Birth and your Country information would be needed to verify your Account...
Due to the congestion in all Yahoo users and removal of all unused Yahoo Accounts, Yahoo would be shutting down all unused Accounts, You will have to confirm your E-mail by filling out your Login Information below after clicking the reply button, or your account will be suspended within 48 hours for security reasons.
* Username: ........................... .... * Password: ..................................... * Date of Birth: ............................... * Country Or Territory: .................
After following the instructions in the sheet, your account will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Thanks for your attention to this request. We apologize for any inconveniences. Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his/her account after two days of receiving this warning stands the risk of lossing his or her account permanently.
The Yahoo Management
From: banking@americanexpress.com Subject: Notification from American Express Date: Sun, 17 May 2009 06:35:32 -0700
Dear American Express customer,
During our regualry scheduled accounts maintenance and verification procedures, we have detected a slight error regarding your American Express Account.
This might be due to one of the following reasons:
1. A recent change in your personal information (i.e. address changing) 2. Submitting invalid information during the initial sign up process. 4. Multiple failed logins in your personal account. 3. An inabillity to accurately verify your selected option of payment due to an internal error within our system.
Please update and verify your information by clicking the following link:
If you are concerned about the authenticity of this message, please click here or call the phone number on the back of your credit card. If you would like to learn more about e-mail security or want to report a suspicious e-mail, click here
Note: If you are concerned about clicking links in this e-mail, the American Express mentioned above can be accessed by typing https://www.americanexpress.com directly into your browser.
ABOUT THIS MESSAGE: This service message was delivered to you as a American Express customer to provide you with account updates and information about your card benefits.
ўз 2008 American
From: Commonwealth Bank <intyyl@account.net> Sent: Sunday, May 17, 2009 1:15:51 AM Subject: Unauthorized Activity !
From: Bank Of America Alert bankofamerica@alert.us Sent: Monday, April 20, 2009 7:05:17 PM Subject: Account Locked!
Account Locked !
Dear Customer,
We are sorry to inform you that due to the number of incorrect login attempts, your account has been locked for your security.Unlock your account by clicking on the link below.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Thank you for using Online Banking
From: WellsFargo Online alerts.33j83@wellsfargo.com Subject: Urgent: Restricted online access. To: Scam Victim Date: Wednesday, March 25, 2009, 8:33 AM
Account Locked !
Dear Wells Fargo Customer,
We are sorry to inform you that due to the number of incorrect login attempts, your Wellsfargo Account has been locked for your security. This has been done to secure your accounts and to protect your confidential information in case the login attempts were not done by you.
At Wellsfargo Bank we care about your security so, for your protection we are proactively notifying you of this activity. You can click on the link below and unlock your wellsfargo account now.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Thank you for using Wellsfargo!
From: Alliance & Leicester Online Banking online.accounts@alliance-leicester.co.uk Subject: You have 1 Security Message To: Scam Victim Date: Wednesday, March 25, 2009, 12:01 AM
To access your Alliance & Leicester personalized Secure Messages Center, CLICK HERE
From: Abbey Bank Plc. accounts@abbey.com Subject: Your Abbey Online Profile has been blocked. Date: Monday, March 23, 2009, 12:38 AM
Dear Abbey Customer,
Your Abbey Online Profile has been blocked.
For security reasons, we would like you to confirm your
Abbey National plc. Registered Office: Abbey National House, 2 Triton Square, Regent's Place, London, NW1 3AN, United Kingdom. Registered Number 2294747. Registered in England. Telephone 0870 607 6000. Calls may be recorded or monitored. Calls may be recorded or monitored. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. FSA registration number 106054. For more information visit www.fsa.gov.uk/register. Abbey and the flame logo are registered trademarks.
From: Wells Fargo onlineservices@wellsfargo.com Subject: Keep Your Online Services Secure Date: Thursday, March 02, 2009, 5:33 AM
Dear Valued Customer,
Due to concerns,for the safety and intergrity of the online banking community We have issued the following warning message.
It has come to our attention that your account information needs to be confirmed Due to inactive customers,fraud and spoof reports if you could please take 5-10minutes Out of your online experince and renew your records you will not run into any future problems with the online service. However,failure to confirm your records may result in your account suspension.
To confirm your bank account records please the button.
Once you have confirmed your account records your internet banking service Will not be interrupted and will continue as normal.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter
During our regularly scheduled account maintenance and verification procedures, we have detected a slight error in your account information. This might be due to either of the following reasons: 1. A recent change in your personal information ( i.e. change of address). 2. Submitting invalid information during the initial sign up process.
Please update and verify your information by clicking the link below.
For help please contact Western Union Customer Service immediately by email at customerservice@westernunion .com or call us at 1-877-989-3268
From: MasterCard Securecode alerts@mastercard.com Sent: Wednesday, November 5, 2008 11:42:37 AM Subject: Notification from MasterCard
Dear MasterCard Member,
For the User Agreement, Section 9, MasterCard may immediately issue a warning, temporarily suspend, indefinitely suspend or terminate your Credit Card and refuse to provide our services to you if we believe that your actions may cause financial loss or legal liability for you, our users or us. Our terms and conditions you agreed to state that your service must always be under your control or those you designate all times.
We have noticed some unusual activity related to your service that indicates that other parties may have access and or control of your MasterCard Credit Card. We recently noticed one or more attempts to log in to your MasterCard Credit Card service from a foreign IP address
If you recently accessed your service while traveling, the unusual log in attempts may have been initiated by you. However, if you did not initiate the logins, please visit The Farmers Bank homepage as soon as possible to restore your account status.
To restore your Credit Card status please click on the link below:
From: WATERMARK Credit Union service@watermarkcu.org Subject: Internet Banking Account Locked Date: Tuesday, July 8, 2008, 5:36 AM
Dear Member,
This is your official notification from Watermark Credit Union that the service(s) listed below will be suspended and deleted if not renewed immediately. Previous notifications have been sent to the Billing Contact assigned to this account. As the Primary Contact, you must renew the service(s) listed below or it will be suspended and deleted.
Renew Nowyour account at Watermark Credit Union immediately.
Thank you for using Watermark Credit Union Home Banking service. We appreciate your business and the opportunity to serve you.
Watermark Credit Union Member Service
***************************************************************************** IMPORTANT MEMBER SERVICE INFORMATION *****************************************************************************
Please do not reply to this message. For any inquiries, contact Member Service.
Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and you will not receive a response. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account and click the Help link in the top right corner of any PayPal page.
PayPal Email ID PP232
From: HSBC Bank plc acc-limmit@hsbc.co.uk Subject: Your account has been temporarily limited ! Date: Thursday, October 16, 2008, 2:29 AM
Your account has been temporarily limited !
We are hereby notifying you that, after a recent review of your account activity, it has been determined that you are in violation of HSBC Bank plc's Acceptable Use Policy.
Therefore, your online account has been temporarily limited for: webcam shows. We must properly verify your account again. Tips to unlock your HSBC Bank plc online account. - It's Easy Here's how to get started:
