HSBC 'Password Entered Incorrectly' Phishing Scam

Outline
Email purporting to be from UK based banking group HSBC claims that the recipient's account has been suspended because the Internet Banking Password was entered incorrectly three times. The message instructs recipients to click a link to restore account access.



Brief Analysis
The email is not from HSBC and the claim that the recipient's HSBC account has been suspended is untrue. In fact, the message is a phishing scam designed to steal banking details via a bogus website.

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Last updated: 12th April 2012
First published: 12th April 2012
Article written by Brett M. Christensen
About Brett Christensen and Hoax-Slayer

Example


Detailed Analysis
This email, which purports to be from large UK financial entity HSBC, claims that the recipient's account has been suspended for security reasons because his or her Internet banking password was entered incorrectly three times. According to the message, the account holder must click a link to correctly login to the banking website in order to restore account access.

However, the email is not from HSBC and the claim that the account has been suspended is a lie. The message is a phishing scam designed to trick the recipient into divulging his or her banking details to cybercriminals. If a user falls for the ruse and clicks the link in the message, he or she will be taken to a bogus webpage designed to look like the genuine HSBC website and asked to provide a user ID:


After entering the User ID, the victim will be taken to a second bogus webpage that asks for name, date of birth and account details:


All of the information entered into the bogus forms can be harvested by the criminals behind the phishing attack. Once they have collected this information, the scammers can gain access to the victim's real HSBC account, lock out the legitimate account holder and use the account to make fraudulent transactions and transfers. After the victim clicks the "Continue" button on the final fake form, he or she will be automatically redirected to the genuine HSBC website and may therefore not realize that the account has been compromised and is about to be hijacked.

This type of phishing scam is a very common criminal tactic. Be wary of any email purporting to be from your bank that claims you must click a link or open an attachment in order to supply private personal and financial details. Always login to your bank website by entering the address in your web browser rather than by clicking a link in an email.



References
Phishing Scams - Anti-Phishing Information

Last updated: 12th April 2012
First published: 12th April 2012
Article written by Brett M. Christensen
About Brett Christensen and Hoax-Slayer