INTERNET FRAUDS, SCAMS & HOAXES

1 page, latest update 3/05

ID THEFT: Fake Bank & Credit Card Requests For ID Information

Unsolicited e-mail (spam) requests allegedly from credit cards companies such as VISA, MasterCard, CitiBank Cards, Amex, etc., or allegedly from Banks such as KeyBank, Washington Mutual, Bank of America, etc commonly ask for updated information.  Some recent scams of this type allege to be from Pay Pal.  Most of these requests have logos, etcetera and may look official.  Most of these e-mails claim there was a suspected fraudulent transaction--such as an ATM withdrawal, or may claim they are switching to better security standards., or may claim that your account was randomly red flagged as a part of a security program.  In any event, the intent of all these spams is to entice victims to provide account information which will allow these weasels to rip you off.  These are amateurish projects and the observant will note that when a cursor is over the link they ask you to go to, the URL has noting to do with the real entity and is often just an IP address, rather than a domain name.  In one case we checked on an IP address alleged to be a a Pay Pal site and found that there is no name for this domain.

We highly recommend that consumers never respond in any manner to any of these requests.  They are all scams.  If you get such an e-mail and feel it may be legitimate, call the relevant credit card company, bank or other entity for clarification.  The following are a couple examples of these spam scams:

We recently reviewed your account, and suspect an fraudulent ATM  
transaction, procesed without autorization.

Therefore, as a preventative measure, we have temporarily 
limited access to your on-line banking access.
To restore your account access, please follow the   
steps listed bellow.

1. Login to your Internet Banking account. 
In case you are not enrolled for Internet Banking, you will have
to use your Social Security Number as your User ID 
and the first 6 digits of Social Security Number as Password, then, 
fill in all the required information.

2. Review your recent account history for any unauthorized 
withdrawals or deposits, and check your account profile to 
make sure no changes have been made. If any unauthorized 
activity has taken place on your account, report this to KeyBank
staff immediately.

To get started, please click the link below:
https://accounts2.keybank.com/ib2/Controller?requester=signon

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter and thank you for using KeyBank!

Do not reply to this e-mail as it is an unmonitored alias

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dear valued Washington Mutual customer,
To your information: Washington Mutual is switched to new transactions security standards.
Washington Mutual ATM services utilize advanced security technology to protect your personal financial information.
This security update will be effective immediately.
Click on this reference:Washington Mutual Online Banking
Failure to do so may result in your account being compromised.
Thank you for using Washington Mutual Bank!