Banks warn against ATM fraud via email

Banks warned yesterday against the rising incidence of ATM (automatic teller machine) frauds and identity theft through e-mails that lure cardholders to reveal bank account details in fake websites.

The Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) said banks have observed an increasingly growing trend of using sophisticated schemes to defraud consumers.

BAP executive director Leonilo Coronel said banks have been reporting more victims of so-called "phishing," a widespread form of information theft involving false emails that lure consumers into revealing sensitive personal information.

Coronel explained that emails were usually sent at random to consumers, asking the recipient to verify account details by visiting websites that look similar to the official websites of their banks.

"In many cases, the perpetrators of this crime do not actually know which customers belong to which banks so they just sound out the email to as many customers as possible and make it appear that it came from the leading banks," Coronel explained.

"Chances are, a good number of the mailing list are actual customers of a leading bank and some do respond, not realizing that this is a fraud," he said.

Coronel explained that as a rule, banks do not need to send emails to customers to verify information they already had on file such as personal or account details.

"If you suspect that you have received a fraudulent email or worse, have responded to one, contact your bank immediately," Coronel said. "This way they can check if there has been any unusual activity in your account."

As a security measure, Coronel said banks will likely assign customers a new account to prevent any fraudulent transaction.

Coronel warned the public that legitimate companies would never ask their customers for their personal account or personal identification number (PIN) information by email.

"If bank clients need to go to their banking or online service, they should use their tried and tested method," he said. This would be to type the website address in the browser instead of using the link in the email which could redirect them to another website.

"Also, never reply to a suspected publishing e-mail to check if it is legitimate," he added. "If an email looks suspicious, contact the company cited in the suspected email using a phone that you know to be genuine."