ABA Phisher Scam
Summary:Fraudulent email, claiming to be from the American Bankers Association, attempts to trick recipients into revealing sensitive personal information.
Status:False
Example:(Collected online, 2004)
From: American Bankers Association [service@aba.com]
Sent: Friday, March 19, 2004
Subject: Please Read! Imporant Information About Your Credit
Card And Its Issuing Bank!
Dear Sir/Madam,
You have been identified as a customer of one of ABA's
( American Bankers Association ) member banks. The American
Bankers Association would like to inform You about the adoption
of a decision of a new Security Policy. The new policy entered
into force on 1st March 2004. Due to the extensive number of
credit card frauds, ABA has decided to take preventice
countermeasures in order to ensure the highest level of security
and safety for the customers of its member banks....
Sincerely,
ABA Customer Service Staff
Commentary:
The American Bankers Association has joined a long list of
financial entities around the world that have been targeted by
phisher scammers. The ABA has placed a
warning about this
scam on their website. Internet users have reported receiving
an email purporting to be from the ABA that tries to trick
recipients into providing personal and financial information.
The fraudulent email contains an embedded "Credit Card
Verification Form" that requests users to enter information
directly. It is highly unlikely that the ABA, or any other
legitimate financial institution, would send messages that
requests sensitive personal information via email.
If you have received a suspect email that claims to be from the
ABA, you can forward the message to alert@aba.com.
Read the alert from the ABA.
A sample of one of the scam emails, minus the "Credit Card
Verification Form", is reproduced above.
Write-up by Brett M.Christensen
