14 DAY TRIAL // Customers of the National Westminster Bank (NatWest) are advised to be on the lookout for suspicious emails that purport to come from the financial institution.
Dynamoo’s Blog has come across one fake NatWest email that informs recipients of an online merchant financial activity statement.
“Keep track of your account with your latest Online Merchant Financial Activity Statement from NatWest Bank. It's available for you to view at this secure site. Just click to select how you would like to view your statement,” the emails read.
They contain some links that appear to point to the statement. However, they actually redirect to a website that’s set up to push a piece of malware.
What’s interesting about this spam run is that the links have been shortened using the Bit.ly URL shortening service. This enables experts to learn how many users have clicked on the link by adding “+” to the end of the link.
So far, there are 246 clicks on the link, but, as Conrad Longmore of Dynamoo’s Blog highlights, it’s likely that many of these clicks are from security researchers analyzing the campaign.
In addition to this malware attack, NatWest customers are also targeted with phishing emails. One sample has been submitted to millersmiles.co.uk.
“Just to let you know that your latest card statement is available. Click here to Log In to Online card services then select Statements. Don’t forget to check your transactions regularly and please remember well never ask you for your PIN and Password by email,” the bogus notifications read.
While the email reminds users not to hand over their PINs and passwords to anyone, in reality, that’s exactly what the site to which the link points to does. It asks users to hand over their personal and financial information.
And since we’re speaking of phishing emails targeting the customers of banks, Australian security expert Troy Hunt has come across an interesting scam targeting the clients of Commonwealth Bank.
The emails inform recipients of a “temporary NetBank suspension.” According to Hunt, the emails are well designed, they manage to bypass spam filters, and the links point to a custom domain.
Users who fall victim to such scams are advised to change their passwords and contact their bank as soon as possible to make sure cybercriminals can’t abuse the stolen information.