Standard Bank has successfully dealt with another "phishing" attack against its customers, the second in five months, the bank reported.
Louis Lehmann, the director of group information technology security at Standard Bank, says none of the bank's customers lost money in the latest attack. The attack was similar to the one launched against the bank in May. Both attacks appear to have emanated from a fraud syndicate operating out of Eastern Europe.
Standard Bank has shut down the fraudulent websites, rendering the attack ineffective.
In the latest phishing scam, thousands of customers were bombarded with emails, which appeared to have originated from Standard Bank, requesting them to confirm their personal details, Lehmann says.
Standard Bank has again emphasised that customers should not respond to unsolicited email.
"There is no doubt that there has been heightened customer awareness of these scams since the last attack. More than 1 400 customers called our call centre to inform us that they had received the email," Lehmann says.
'Spoofed' website
Phishing, which is a form of online fraud, is an attempt by criminals to obtain confidential customer information. This is done using unsolicited email requests, luring customers to divulge their banking details on a "spoofed" website.
"Customers should not respond, and should ignore and delete unsolicited mail. Standard Bank will not ask its customers for their personal banking credentials, such as PINs and passwords. Should you have divulged any personal information in this manner, please contact our call centre on 0860 123 000," Lehmann says.
Standard Bank has urged its clients to adopt its One Time Password security feature, which renders phishing attacks ineffective. One Time Password requires a second password to authorise an internet transaction.
Another security measure implemented by Standard Bank is My Notification. This service informs clients, via email and SMS, of transactions that have been carried out on their internet bank accounts.
Standard Bank says you should also check the security status of your personal computer. Standard Bank has secured rights from Microsoft to allow its customers to download Windows patches and licensed anti-spyware software upgrades directly from the bank's website.