14 DAY TRIAL // Stay Smart Online, the Australian Government’s website dedicated to online safety, has issued an alert to warn Westpac customers of a new phishing campaign that targets them.
The attacks start with a cleverly designed phishing email that informs recipients about a security update.
“Thank you for banking online at Westpac, your security is our primary concern. And in order to guard against the recent spate of fraud and identity theft involving online account holders, we have recently introduced additional security measures and update our software to protect our online account holders,” the bogus notifications read.
The links from these emails don’t point to the official Westpac website, but to a malicious webpage that’s cleverly set up by cybercriminals to trick victims into handing over their details.
It’s worth noting that similar emails have been used to target the customers of other financial institutions as well, including ones of Lloyds TSB.
The Australian government’s advisory is based on a report published by antivirus vendor AVG last week.