even the educated can be foolish

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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 8:25 pm

today my wife calls me in a semi-panic, she tells me i need to call the bank. when i ask her why, she tells me she received an email from them and the email said they had placed a hold on all of our checking/savings accounts.

I started laughing because i thought she was having a go at me. she became quite frustrated and asked what the hell i was laughing at. I truly thought she was joking, but in fact she was being quite serious.

I interogated her until i was sure she hadn't clicked the link and provided the details they requested.

my wife knows i bait scammers, i tell her about the wonderful times my new friends and i have together.

she said she didn't think 'scam' because the email was from our bank. Crying or Very sad

I guess the problem is, i didn't tell her about this type of scam. Shocked

Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 8:29 pm

Quote:

I guess the problem is, i didn't tell her about this type of scam.

Yep no matter what, it will always be your fault Wink

At least that's how it works here Laughing

Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 8:53 pm

yes

maybe it´s good we talk about it to a certain extent even in normal conversation.
Before I found this site, I only knew about phishing, lotto and ebay scams but had no idea about the NOK or of phone lads or of fake banks or of romance scams, since I did not happen to get any resp. did not do online dating. Since then it´s at least being covered in the media a bit more often than in 2006.

Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 9:03 pm

I have always refused to give my bank my e-mail address even though they have been quite aggressive about wanting it (maybe it's the million quid I withdrew when they weren't looking one day Very Happy

) - but it was clear they only wanted to load me with advertising crap.

If people know their bank has their e-mail address and they get spoofed mails from them, from scammers, bearing all the right logos and using the correct tone, why wouldn't people believe phishing attempts to be real ?

Elite Baiter Joined: 16 Jul 2008 Posts: 1407

GomerPyle wrote:

I have always refused to give my bank my e-mail address even though they have been quite aggressive about wanting it but it was clear they only wanted to load me with advertising crap.

If people know their bank has their e-mail address and they get spoofed mails from them, from scammers, bearing all the right logos and using the correct tone, why wouldn't people believe phishing attempts to be real ?

Good points Gomer. However, I am fairly certain your bank isn't interested in your email addy for advertising. More likely they are more interested in getting rid of paper mailings to you. Including checks cleared on your account.

Good thoughts too on the spoofed emails. More than likely if you have a large national bank, this may be an issue. I do my banking at a local bank owned by locals. The scammers would have to be pretty desparate to spoof that addy.

Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 10:34 pm

I use a large national bank, and I do online banking because it's a way for me to be able to do my own banking, rather than have someone else have to go to the bank for me.

That said, I learned a long time ago - even before I was involved in baiting - that if I get an email from my bank, I don't click on the provided link. I don't even copy and paste the url into the browser. Instead I use the url I always use for my normal banking needs and check on things that way. It always shows me that what the email told me was untrue. If I were concerned, I would call the bank or actually get someone to take me to my local branch.

I have to laugh when I get emails from another national bank - where I do not have an account. Laughing

And I am constantly talking about the various types of scams. It has proven helpful to others more than once. Smile

Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 11:53 pm

I get quite a few, but so far none "from" my bank. The oddest a few years back purported to be from the Wells Fargo Bank.
I know it's a real bank, but I doubt is has many UK customers.

Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 1:43 am

mewing_ghecko wrote:

she said she didn't think 'scam' because the email was from our bank. Crying or Very sad

Wow. That's actually a really good point you made there. It's true on so many different levels, because people will believe something that comes from an authority and all you have to do is make one 'tiny' error of judgement, or some natural assumption in the beginning and then you're opened up to all kinds of other hazards. It's like the first one opens the door and once the doors open then no matter how smart you might otherwise be, you become vulnerable because you've allowed them in past your defences.

Good point and well worth remembering!

Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 4:03 am

Not only real banks, but PayPal and Ebay are spoofed in this way. It must work because the scammers keep sending them out. Evil or Very Mad

419Eater is my life Joined: 21 Nov 2005 Posts: 264

My bank says on their website and several places on any snail mail they send that they will never contact you by email. It's even on a sign posted in the lobby along with warnings about several popular scams. They do a pretty good job protecting their customers from scams. Wish more banks did that.

Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 11:39 am

I was just thinking about this...the criminal tries to rip money off innocent victims...so does the word "foolish" apply when one falls victim?
It seems to move the responsibility from the criminal to the victim, "he/she could have taken better care" Sad

Better say, even the educated ones can be victims of internet criminals Very Happy

Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 1:39 pm

in this case she was being foolish.

besides, my missus isn't a member here, i can call her anything I want. Wink

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