In one of the most legitimate looking phishing ploys
in recent times, phishers are out to steal account information from unsuspecting
customers of Chase Manhattan Bank. More interestingly, this fraudulent scheme
cons you while giving a lesson or two in online account security!
Security
experts at MicroWorld Technologies inform that
this spoof mail starts off with some good sermons on measures taken by Chase Bank
to safeguard customer's personal financial information. It claims that anti-fraud
units regularly scan user accounts for suspicious activity. Then it drops the
bomb shell. The mail informs that multiple attempts to break into user's account
have been detected and subsequently the account is suspended temporarily. To re-validate
the account, users are told to click on a link.
On clicking the link, user
is taken to a website that's strikingly similar to that of Chase bank. It tells
the user to enter usernames, passwords and other details into the online form
and the information keyed in goes straight to the hands of the phisher. Even the
spoof website address looks very similar to the actual URL of Chase bank.
"This
one is like a thief coming in the guise a cop," says Govind Rammurthy, CEO,
MicroWorld Technologies. "I must say, they
have done a very convincing job in their bid to look authentic, though psychologically
the ploy is the same. It's about hijacking your senses with some clever words
to get you fall in line. The thing about social engineering is that your means
could be anything, but what matters is the end. And definitely at the end, the
victim is the loser!"
Many Phishing scams in the past have been exposed
by MicroWorld Technologies in their continuous
battle to secure the Internet. Some methods used in phishing schemes are like
luring by money and other incentives, offers to take part in contests and more
recently shock and scare. Studies by 'Anti-Phishing Working Group' reveal that
phishing attacks reached an all-time high in the month of March with more than
18,000 new unique phishing attempts along with an addition of 10,000 phishing
websites.
New developments in phishing attempts suggest that fraudsters
are employing Keyloggers, IRC backdoors, and 'URL Redirecting Trojans' for identity
theft. Phishing of all kinds can be prevented by increasing the awareness levels
and using an intelligent, Real Time Security solution. The software eScan
and MailScan
from MicroWorld Technologies stops spam and phishing mails, while consistently
protecting users from other malware that steals personal financial information.
MicroWorld
MicroWorld
(www.mwti.net) is the developer of the world's
first Real-Time AntiVirus and Content Security software eScan
for desktops and servers. Its communication security software, MailScan
is the first comprehensive e-mail scanner for your SMTP/POP3 Mail Server. MicroWorld
Winsock Layer (MWL) is the revolutionary technology underlying these products,
powering them to several certifications and awards by some of the most prestigious
testing bodies, notable among them being Virus Bulletin, Checkmark, TUCOWS, Red
Hat Ready, and Novell Ready. Combining their powerful scanner with MWL technology,
MicroWorld solutions provide a Real-Time Proactive security for your systems.
For network security of enterprises, eConceal Firewall is the latest powerful
offering from MicroWorld.
To learn more, kindly visit http://www.mwti.net
