Security Alert: How to Identify & Protect against Phishing Attacks

Phishing attacks occur when criminals pose as trusted organizations and send out thousands of fraudulent emails to random email addresses. These emails look authentic, featuring corporate logos and layouts of real organizations.

The purpose of the email is to fool users into clicking a link that will take them to a look-alike website of the organization. At a glance, the look-alike websites are almost identical to legitimate sites hosted by organizations.

As a result, unsuspecting victims would readily key in personal information that should otherwise be kept secret.

Below are a few tips and guidelines to protect yourself against such scams:

Staying Safe Online: Prevent Phishing!   "Phishing is an online technique used by criminals to obtain sensitive personal information (banking/credit card account details, user ID/passwords, PIN, OTP) for the purpose of committing fraud." Identifying Phishing Scams   1. Be suspicious of any email from your Bank requesting for information or action on your part.   2. Banks will never use the following phrases/wording in emails to customers:     • "Please update/provide us with your account details" • "Dear customer/user" • "Your account has been compromised" • "Click here to reactivate your account" • "Please follow the instructions below" • "Your account will be closed/suspended if you do not respond immediately" • "Please click on the link/attachment"   3. Emails containing website links and attachments should be regarded with care. Criminals are known to create identical fake banking websites, and attachments may contain malicious software that will infect your computer. Protecting Yourself   • Banks will never ask for your confidential or personal information (including PIN, OTP or credit card details) via emails, phone or SMS.   • Manually type out the full website address of your Internet Banking sites.   • Banks will not instruct you to open any attachments or click on links in an email.   • Always check your bank account/ credit card statements for any suspicious or unauthorized transactions.   • Install a reputable Internet Security software suite (firewall, anti-virus and anti-spyware) and update it regularly.   • Be wary and avoid accessing Internet Banking at public terminals, such as cyber cafés, since they might be infected with information stealing malicious software/viruses.   • Always remember to log out and clear your computer's cache after each online banking session.