The next thing we are going to tell you about is a new security incident that recently happened in Germany. Could this also happen in Europe? Most likely, because successful cyberattacks in one country or region are still used indiscriminately elsewhere.
The fraud was revealed by a consumer association of the country, which warns of new fraudulent e-mails disguised as Phishing which they mention in the subject “System alarm code” in reference to a suspicious money transfer.
How can I recognize this phishing scam?
The fraud would be directed against the bank’s customers popular bankswho receive a message containing text such as “this security system has intercepted a highly suspicious transfer of EUR 4,999” on their behalf.
The message states that although said transfer was canceled immediately, it is now pending account verification. In this way, you must confirm your data through the attached link.
Of course, this link is fraudulent and leads to a web page where the scam occurs. If the customer clicks on it and tries to do connection with your identifiers, the access data to your bank account will have been stolen.
The fact that it is a fraudulent e-mail can be confirmed by the questionable sender address ([email protected]).
Of course, behind this message, there is only a clear intention to obtain confidential customer data. The bank recommends moving the email to the junk or spam folder without replying to the sender.
The consumer service center also warned a few days ago of a scam targeting Sparkasse customers. It indicates that Sparkasse has developed the so-called “Sparkassen Fingerprint System (SKFS)”.
This technology is used to protect customers against unauthorized access to their accounts. Recipients would only have to click on the link in the email to activate it.
Also in this case it is a new fraud attempt with which the attackers want to get their hands on the account data of their victims. Similar to the phishing attack described above, banks claim that they will never ask their customers to activate a feature via email.
In Europe it is very common to see how large banking entities such as BBVA and Banco Santander suffer from this type of scam Phishing by SMS, e-mail and even by phone call.
Cybercriminals manage to create increasingly elaborate messages that arrive on behalf of companies (impersonation) with which we usually come into contact for a certain type of service provided, to make us believe that the request is real.
How to identify a phishing scam?
As pointed out by INCIBE (National Institute of Cybersecurity), fraudulent campaigns of the type Phishing They usually have several common factors that, thanks to their identification, it is possible to detect them to avoid fraud:
- Analyze the sender. type emails Phishing they often contain sender addresses that do not match the organization they claim to represent. This is the first indicator to check.
- Watch for spelling and grammatical errors. The official communication of any banking entity or institution will surely take care not to contain spelling or grammatical errors, since communication with its customers is a very careful aspect.
- Create a sense of urgency. Cybercriminals often use hooks such as service or account cancellation, fines, penalties for not accessing in a timely manner, etc. Beware of all these cases and situations.
- Fake links. The links usually appear to be the legitimate website or contain text referring to being “clicked”. Hover your mouse over it and check the dialog to see the real address, or use online tools.
- impersonal communication. Communications from legitimate entities generally refer to their recipient using their first and last name. On the other hand, cybercriminals often do not know this personal data, so communications are impersonal.
Take a look at our best safety tips for using the internet safely. Protect your digital life and that of your family members online by following a series of simple tips.
