Counter-Attack Thwarts PhishingBid

OLYMPIA, Wash. - (12/20/05) -- Rather than play defense, officialsat Washington State Employees CU decided to take the offensiveagainst a series of phishing attacks. After the credit union wasalerted to a phishing email that linked members to a phony website, the credit union began inundating the fake web site with baddebit card numbers, hoping that the criminals would be confused andunable to distinguish between the fake numbers and any real onesmembers may have been fooled into sending them. They also contactedthe Internet service provider in Lithuania that was hosting thefake web site. It took about a day and half to shut down the phonyweb site.