Fraudsters go phishing as financial crisis hits

Fraudsters targeting worried bank customers

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10 October 2008 13:45 GMT / By Katie Scott

With daily news of yet another bank in trouble, customers are understandably worried about their investments at the moment.

And online fraudsters are taking advantage of this.

In fact, things have got so bad that the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a warning explaining how phishing gangs are using the turmoil in the financial world to extract valuable information from consumers.

The FTC said that these criminals are particularly prying on bank customers of institutions that have been bought out, leaving confusion as to what will happen to funds.

"Scammers are taking advantage of upheavals in the financial marketplace to confuse consumers into parting with valuable personal information", it warned.

The fraudsters are often posing as the new owners of the bank.

It is urging customers to not reply to email messages or pop-ups that ask for personal or financial information even if they appear to be legit, and the FTC also says that customers should be regularly checking their bank and credit card statements for unauthorised withdrawals or transfers.

Meanwhile, in the UK, a UK banking group has revealed that phishing attacks were up more than 180% in a year.