A while back I got an e-mail that looked like it was from Bank of America telling me to “verify and register” my computer to avoid identify theft. Thankfully, this isn’t my first time to the rodeo but I know there are a lot of people out there (who probably won’t ever read this) who could easily be taken in by such things. And so I present this to you in order to serve as a reminder to stay ever vigilant about Phishing scams and also to show you what should trip your Spider-Sense! First we’ll take a look at the e-mail in it’s entirety and then we’ll BREAK IT DOWN.
So here’s a look at the e-mail:
If you click on the picture you can see the entire e-mail and see how legit it seems to be. It has the BOA logo everywhere, it’s the same style as the normal BOA e-mails, has a nice footer at the bottom with the Olympic rings etc…If I didn’t grow up in the Information Age, I’d probably be duped. So what set off some flags? First, let’s take a look at the e-mail header.
First off, this e-mail is to bush@bushmackel.com Last time I checked, that was not the e-mail address I have registered with BOA. That was a huge flag! I also checked bofa.com to see if that was a legit domain, but it seemed to direct to BOA’s legit site. So then I put my cursor over the Verification Link to see where it would take me…
http://www.fruttymc.info/bankofamerica.com/verifyiac.php What the hell is that? A big steaming pile of trouble. That’s what! If any legit company needs me to verify my information (which 99.99999999% of the time they wont), I better be directed to their site, and not one with even a letter off. SO, by now that site (fruttymc) is down, but I can tell you what it looked like…Exactly like the standard Bank of America site.From there, you would enter your information like normal, and you would be FINISHED. So kids, make sure you pay attention to what you get in your e-mail, because phishing people are very very tricky and will go to all kinds lengths to pull the wool over your eyes.
June 20th, 2007 at 7:10 am
I get these all the time, from hundred’s of different banks. Not one from my actual bank though (fake or real).
June 20th, 2007 at 7:54 am
Yeah, same here. That’s why when it came from a bank I have an account in, I had to take a pause for the cause.
June 20th, 2007 at 8:18 am
Unfortunately some people still get snagged by these scams, so it never hurts to alert your readers
The last time I received a BOA e-mail the link pointed to some website in Sweden.
June 20th, 2007 at 8:21 am
@apex – Yeah, that’s why it got me, it was from my bank!!!
@mike – I probably need to print out this article and give a copy to all my relatives. I just wish the faux site was still up so I could dissect that too. Would’ve made the post a bit more interesting.
June 20th, 2007 at 8:23 am
@apex – I know. That’s why this one caught my eye. BECAUSE IT WAS FROM MY BANK!!!
@Mike – Yeah, I should probably print out this post and give it to my relatives. I just with the faux website was still up so I could dissect that too. Would’ve made for a more interesting post.
June 20th, 2007 at 11:08 am
I’ve received a few like this. I get the You’ve won the Yahoo lottery quite often the email is not from yahoo. I always check that type of stuff; unfortunately, not everyone does that. Great post!
June 20th, 2007 at 11:15 am
There are definitely a ton of scams out there. And while people still fall pray to them, there always will be too.