Banks Raise E-mail Fraud Alert

Worried by reported cases of online scams, major commercial banks operating in the country have begun campaigns targeted at educating their customers. Some of the banks that have issued such fraud alerts on their social media accounts and websites include First Bank of Nigeria, Guaranty Trust Bank, First City Monument Bank, Zenith Bank, among others.

According to the banks, the con artistes on the prowl have continued to perfect their schemes to send out e-mails purportedly from them with increasing frequency, creativity and intensity.

First Bank, while admitting that fraudsters were increasingly making use of emails and other methods to obtain banking passwords and other personal information, said on its website that criminal activities — including identity theft and fraud — are more prevalent today than ever before.

It warned customers on its Facebook page against responding to emails that look like those emanating from it and requesting them to disclose their security information.

Urging them to exercise extreme caution, the bank added that its attention had been drawn to the circulation of fraudulent emails asking customers to ‘verify your account’, or ‘confirm your sign-in details.’

It warned that recipients of such emails should not respond to the message, or click on any of the links on it; adding that the mail should be deleted immediately.

In the event that the customers click on the links or attachment in the e-mail, First Bank advises that the computer used to access the email be promptly scanned for possible viruses and malware.

The bank added, “You may receive emails that look like they come from First Bank and ask you to disclose your security information. We’ll never ask you to disclose your personal or security details by email.

“Usually, the links contained in these ‘phishing’ emails will direct you to a site that asks you to ‘update’ or ‘verify’ your details on the page. Be warned, these can appear to be genuine. Don’t click on the links or provide any of your security details.”

Also, Guaranty Trust Bank, which has a provision for opening bank accounts via Facebook, said it would continue to encourage online banking. It, however, stated that it would never ask customers to update or provide personal log-in or account information details on the social network.

Alerting its customers to the menace of identity theft online, it reminded them that their Internet banking account, ATM card details and PINs are confidential and should be treated as such.

In a scam alert on its website titled, “scam e-mails in circulation”, GTB added, “Our attention has been drawn to mails being sent out by fraudsters, requesting such sensitive information as Internet banking account and ATM card details.

“Some of these mails also request that customers update their account records by clicking on links to fake Internet banking and Interswitch websites. You are hereby advised to ignore these mails and do not respond to them.”

Meanwhile, an online security expert, Olorunfemi Lawore, has also provided some tips on how to distinguish between phishing mails from valid bank emails.

Lawore noted, “You can tell that the link is fraudulent just by placing your cursor on it (not clicking on it) and then looking below at the status bar of your browser to see if the link you are about to click on reads the same address on your status bar on the browser.

“Of course, a good hacker could do a perfect job to decipher the linked URL very well, but the basic thing to note is that you should ask yourself a question, which is, ‘Why am I clicking on this link?’ You must weigh what could happen if it is a fraudulent link and this should be a good check for you.”

Lawore, a certified ethical hacker and head of operations, GNT Nigeria, an IT training and consulting firm, advised the banking public against clicking on email links out of curiosity, especially those that offer too much promises/benefits.

The online security expert also asked members of the public to be wary of emails from unknown senders.

To fend off online phishing scams he added, “Don’t trust unknown e-mail senders; ask unknown senders if they were the ones who sent a mail with a link and why. Be careful with personal information online.”

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