Consumer Agency warns of email phishing scam targeting internet bankers

The National Consumer Agency is warning AIB and other bank customers to be wary of convincing spam emails circulating at the moment. The advisory comes on foot of another warning by the agency of advanced ATM skimming scams targeting AIB customers.

In particular the NCA is warning consumers of a scam email puporting to be from AIB’s accounts department which asks customers to follow a link to confirm their internet banking email address. The text of the emails may look like this,

You are required to immediately follow the link below and login to your account to confirm or update your email address. This is mandatory for all AIB customers so we can contact you directly about important updates to the Internet Banking Service.

All banking customers, not just those who bank with AIB, are advised to be on alert for these types of identity theft scams, known as phishing scams. Consumers who believe that may have fallen for this or similar email should contact their bank or financial institution and the Gardaí immediatly.

The National Consumer Agency further advises that the best protection for consumers against such scams is to follow these steps,

• Remember, responding to one scam opens the door to many more, so don’t reply to them.
• Companies you know and trust also know you – so they WONT ask you to give them information they already have, like your PIN number or your online banking login details. Scammers are constantly “Phishing” for these details.