Fake advertisements targeting online banking sites

You may be aware that currently there is a global phishing scam occurring that is targeting bank customers worldwide with bogus bank or financial institution advertisements on search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing.

The bogus advertisements include a direct link to a fake internet banking login page. Anyone that enters their details into the fake internet banking site will be unknowingly providing the scammers with access to their accounts.

Fake websites and SMS spam equate to millions of dollars for scammers, and whilst they have been operating for decades they still work.

One recent Australian banking scam has highlighted how easy money is lost. All that was needed was a genuine-looking Google ad linking to a fake internet banking website, and without the enablement of a customer’s daily limit management, $30,000 was lost instantly.

The latest scams are being perpetrated in a systematic and well organised manner with professional fake websites in place, which are difficult to distinguish from the real thing.

A number of financial institutions have published reminders to customers to;

• Never use a search engine link or any links in search engine ‘paid ads’ to access your internet banking, and always check the
  URL that you are using to determine its authenticity.

• Always access internet banking securely through the official website.

• As an alternative option to browser based banking, download and use the App banking channel on a smart device.