FARMINGTON HILLS – In one of the most bizarre phishing scams to date, a fake Chase email explaining online fraud actually opens a link that directs recipients to a site where their account details are harvested.
Security experts at MicroWorld Technologies said the email spoofing Chase is an upside-down innovation in recent phishing attacks. If used in targeted groups, this can potentially compromise personal financial information for many account holders.
The mail starts off like this: ?We want you to be aware of e-mail scams that attempt to steal your personal and/or account information. Known as ?phishing?, these scams consist of an email that looks like it came from Chase (Complete with Chase logo) and usually takes an urgent and demanding tone. It is not our practice to send -and you should never respond or reply to- email that: Requires you enter personal information directly into email or submit some other way. Threatens to close or suspend your account if you do not take immediate action by providing personal information?
The mail directs the recipient to report any fraudulent mail and springs the trap.
?This mail is a masterpiece design from scam artists!? said Govind Rammurthy, CEO, MicroWorld Technologies. ?Over the last few years, we have been deeply analyzing the psychological ploys in various Social Engineering schemes employed by fraudster gangs and I must say, there have been quite a number of clever ideas. But this one definitely takes the cake. It?s like hijacking your senses smoothly and completely, to force you to do something really stupid before you know what happened!?
Earlier this month, MicroWorld Technologies reported another phishing attempt on American Express card holders using an advanced Trojan, where a pop-up box appears when you manually type in the American Express web address in your browser. The Chase fraud is technically inferior, but scores high when it comes to convincing powers with the cleverly conceived con mail.
?The line between the real and fake is blurring so fast,? Rammurthy said. ?When you go and type in the URL of your bank?s website in your PC, there?s no guarantee that it will take you to the authentic one anymore. In a world of keyloggers, URL Rerouting Trojans and very smart con mails like the one we have just seen, you need a three tier defense against cyber criminals. One, a powerful Spam Control. Two, total Phishing control. Three, a Proactive and Real-Time protection against all kinds of malware.?
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