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Fake Standard Chartered Bank webpage, asking for sensitive credit card details hi-resFirst published: 10th June 2014
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has issued a warning about fake emails supposedly from Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (SCBHK). The emails link to various fraudulent webpages that ask for personal and credit card information. The three example webpages listed by HKMA were hosted in Spain and one was still active at the time of writing. The details requested included the credit card number, CVV code from the back of the card, date of birth and 3D Secure password, in other words, all the information necessary to make a fraudulent online payment.
Anyone who has been tricked by the emails and has used the webpages should contact SCBHK at 2886 8868 and any local police station or the Commercial Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force at 2860 5012.
An HKMA spokesperson advised, "Members of the public are reminded not to access their Internet banking accounts through hyperlinks embedded in e-mails, Internet search engines or suspicious pop-up windows. Instead, they should access their Internet banking accounts by typing the website addresses at the address bar of the browser, or by bookmarking the genuine website and using that for access. In addition, banks are not expected to send e-mails asking their customers to provide their account information (e.g. Internet banking logon passwords) or verify their account information online. If in doubt, they should contact their banks".
This echoes the advice on the fraudulent webpage, "Our Bank will never ask you for your sensitive account information, e.g. username, password and other confidential account or credit card information by email".
Yui Kee Chief Consultant Allan Dyer commented, "A webpage does not become trustworthy just because it includes reasonable advice. The criminals want these pages to look genuine, so they copy the features of the original."
