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Phishing and spear-phishing attacks have gotten more subtle and sophisticated. An expert provides examples of the latest episodes and advice for banks on how to protect themselves.
May 22
BancorpSouth (BXS) of Tupelo, Miss., continues to experience an increased level of fraudulent messages seeking personal information from customers and noncustomers.
These automated messages typically have the pretext of activating a debit card and ask recipients to provide their debit or credit card number and PIN for identification. The messages are being sent via cell phone calls, text messages and emails and generally mention that the card number for the recipient has been deactivated, the $13.3 billion-asset company said Tuesday.
This is an effort to have the recipient contact a phone number or website to provide the card information. BancorpSouth warned that the calls are not legitimate and said that it does not ask for personal or account information through these means.
This type of fraudulent messages is often known as phishing. Phishing is when a criminal tricks someone into taking a particular action or providing critical information online.
