This week I received a text claiming there had been an unusual login attempt in my online banking account. It’s a scam and this is how you can spot it.
While online scams are nothing new, they seem to have grown exponentially over the last two years. From PayPal, to iPhones, to the ATO and even online dating sites – it doesn’t seem like there is much scammers and hackers haven’t tried in order to get money out of people. Even the bushfires weren’t exempt.
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2020/01/bushfire-charity-scams-what-to-look-out-for/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/GettyImages-1188628215-410×231.jpg” title=”Bushfire Charity Scams: What To Look Out For” excerpt=”Australia’s devastating bushfires have resulted in the global community coming together to offer support and financial aid. But not everyone has banded together for the greater good. Some human garbage fires have been using this as an opportunity to swindle people out of their money by posing as a charity. We wish we didn’t have to write this, but this is what you should look out for when it comes to bushfire scams.”]
Posing as a banking institution seems to be a favourite, and this time NAB customers seem to be the target. At the moment text messages claiming an unusual login attempt are being sent to Aussies around the country.
Fortunately it is not very good. There are spelling and grammar error in the message I received, making it easy to spot as a phishing attempt. Plus, I’m not actually an NAB customer.
There was also a mobile phone number attached to the text and no language identifying the text as coming from the NAB. You can read the message in the above header image.
NAB is aware of the scam and has a warning page up on its website.
“NAB is aware of current SMS phishing campaigns targeting customers. Please see two examples below.
The messages claim to be from NAB stating that your account has been suspended, and directs you to click on a link to unlock or verify your account. These lead to fake NAB websites asking for personal information and banking credentials.
Do not click on the link.
NAB will never ask you to confirm, update or disclose personal or banking information via a link in an email or text message.
When sending phishing text messages, criminals sometimes set the sender name as “NAB”, meaning that fraudulent text messages can appear in the same conversation as legitimate messages from NAB. This is not a sign that NAB systems have been breached in any way” it simply means a criminal is impersonating our brand.
If you have received this type of text message, please forward it to 0476 220 003 (047 NAB 0003) or take a screenshot, email it to phish@nab.com.au and then delete it.
If you have received this type of email or text message, and have clicked on the link or entered your details please contact your local branch or call 13 22 65 immediately.”
NAB has also provided examples of what the scam texts can look like:
If you have been the victim of a scam, head over to Scamwatch for advice and resources. Always remember to never click on link in suspicious text messages or emails from people you don’t know.
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2020/01/ato-scam-tax-text-australia/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ato-scam-410×231.png” title=”A New ATO Tax Scam Is Going Around Australia” excerpt=”A new text message scam is currently circulating around Australia. The perpetrators are impersonating the Australian Tax Office (ATO) to phish for personal information.”]