Security Alert

Important Security Warning for all Internet Users: Phishing

There are recent reports of criminal online activity by which the perpetrator attempts to obtain personal access data for online banking as well as credit card data. This illicit procedure is referred to as phishing (fishing for passwords).

How Does Phishing Work?

E-mail
A common channel for this (attempted) crime is a bogus e-mail in which the sender presents him or herself as a bank employee. In the e-mail the recipient is asked, under a false pretext, to enter his or her personal access data in a web sheet or attached form. While this form may resemble the document used at the specific bank, it is actually a counterfeit.
In these e-mails recipients are addressed in such a way that they are prompted to quickly enter their data.

• The reader is asked to help the bank test a new online banking function because it wants to make sure that he or she still has complete access to his or her account.
• Or the phisher makes the e-mail recipient feel directly affected by a situation by informing him or her that his or her user account has been locked as a result of an attempt at misuse, and that he or she should immediately confirm certain information in order to regain access to it.

Telephone

The phisher may also contact the victim by telephone in an attempt to obtain access data.

How can I Protect Myself from such an Attack?

• Do not react to phishing e-mails. Bear in mind that we never ask our customers by e-mail to enter personal access data for online banking or credit card data in an online form.
• Never give your personal access data (PIN, TAN, credit card number etc.) to anyone by e-mail!
• Do not activate any links or files attached to these e-mails. Do not trust links given to you on other websites. Lurking behind an apparently correct link may be a counterfeit website.
• In the address box in your Internet browser, check whether the address of the bank is accurate.
• If you have already received a phishing e-mail or have even replied to one, please contact your customer support officer immediately.