Bank Phishing email reminder

The Trading Standards team would like to remind consumers and small businesses to act on the side of caution whenever they receive an email purporting to be from their bank, building society or credit card company.

When receiving such an email, a few basic checks could save you some significant inconvenience at a later date.

It is common practice for some scam artists to send “phishing” emails, purporting to be from a bank in an attempt to gain personal information. Generally, these types of emails claim that due to a “

database update” or “for security reasons” or similar, they need you to confirm your personal details and will ask you to click on an attached web-link in order to provide them. (Please see an example recently forwarded to us, supposedly from NatWest – the person who received the email doesn’t even have an account with this bank!)

At first glance, such emails appear to be genuine, but take a moment to look for a few clues that may tell otherwise. Check the email address of the sender - banks do not use ‘hotmail.com’ / ‘gmail.com’ types of email addresses. Emails addressed “

Dear Valued Customer” or similar and not to you personally, are very likely to be part of a scam. Finally, check for simple spelling mistakes or unusual grammar.

If you ever receive what you think is a “phishing” email, our advice is;

- never reply, this will only alert the sender that your email address is active;

- never open any attachments or click on any web-links;

- never provide any personal information or account details;

- never be intimidated into replying (for example, if it is claimed you may be denied access to your account if you do not reply);

- if you are unsure whether the email is genuine or not, contact your bank directly to check whether they have sent it;

- report the email to your bank, by forwarding it to them (please visit your bank’s website to find out if they have a specific email address for reporting “phishing” emails, most banks will have);

- finally, delete the email from your computer.

EXAMPLE　From: NatWest [mailto:online@messages.com]Sent: 11 September 2012 09:38Subject: Security Message - Please read carefuly
　Security Message - Please read carefulyFor security reasons access to your online banking service has been restricted. The reason for this action is:
multiple failed login attempts from an unknown IP adressTo restore your online access click: Log On to NatWest Online Banking and proceed the verification process.Important Note: If we not receive the appropriate account verification within 48 hours, you will need to visit branch to restore your account access.