Barclays Bank Phishing Scam: A shot in the dark?
Photo by: Kai Hendry
A phishing scam targeted the million-strong online banking customers of Barclays Bank this week. The scam paid a visit to inboxes of the bank’s customers. As happens, the new scam email attempts to dupe them into revealing their account login information. Armed with this info, the fraudsters hope to strip their accounts off money.
Last year, Barclays introduced the two factor authentication system into their online banking services. Called PINsentry, the system allowed the bank to add another layer of security to its online network. For instance, customers who wished to access their online accounts had to authenticate their access-request by feeding in numbers that appeared on an offline reader. (More about how Two Factor Authentication works.) The bank had distributed the readers to all its online banking customers last year.
Recently, the bank reported a 95% decrease in instances of online fraud among its customers which it attributed to the new system that was in place. In the light of this, the latest attempt of phishing fraudsters might seem to be a dumb idea.
At first glance, the fraudsters’ plan seems to be far-fetched and unworkable. Yet, can it really be a shot in the dark? It is unlikely they may not have taken into account the new security system at all. Given the technical competence brandished by fraudsters these days, it should not be difficult, for them to devise a way to get around the new system.
I presume it is just a matter of getting hold of a reader and figuring out how it comes up with the numbers. Difficult, maybe, for you and me, but not so for modern-day fraudsters who have time-and-again proven to be more in-step with the latest technology. So, does the latest scam signal that scammers have busted the much-touted security system on offer?
Only time can tell. We’ll just have to cross our fingers and watch whether the new scam tastes success and finds any victims.
For now, those who receive the scam email will have to bide by the time-tested, sure-fire way to stifle the scam: delete the email at first sight.
Source: PrecisionMarketing.co.uk
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October 29th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
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