FNB Namibia has issued an urgent warning to
customers to be extremely vigilant with any messages asking them to click on a
link to view a payment or something along those lines.
Kathleen Nell,
Manager Online Banking at FNB Namibia has said that the recent revamp of the
FNB website has triggered fraudsters to once again try their luck by sending
bogus e-mails to customers and requesting them to click on a link to view a
payment. We received the following, for example: “Dear valued customer • FNB :-) An amount of N$22,630.05 @
Cashbuild paid to your cheq a/c..41201 using card..1072. Date: 20 Sept, 2013. Kindly view the source
of payment. Please do NOT
reply to this message as it is sent from an unattended mailbox.” Nell advised that everything looks genuine although the e-mail
address is never the FNB one.
(Photograph: Kathleen Nell, Manager: Online Banking, First National Bank of Namibia)
“We
can only continue to make our customers aware of possible threats and also to
ask them to rather phone their relationship manager or branch ponce too often
to request validity of an e-mail. We are constantly
introducing new security measures that are aimed at curbing the threat of identity theft”.
FNB still advises that to further counter these threats, FNB
customers should never respond or reply to emails which: a) requires you to enter personal information directly into the email
or submit that information some other way; b) threatens to close or suspend your account if you do not take
immediate action by providing personal information; c) solicits your participation in a survey where you are asked to
enter personal information; d) states that your account has been compromised or that there has
been third-party activity on your account and requests you to enter or confirm
your account information; e) asks you to enter your User ID (or user name), password or account
numbers into an email or non-secure web page; f) asks you to confirm, verify, or
refresh your account, credit card or address information.
The
most important thing to remember is not
to interact with the sender of the email, and definitely do not enter any
of your personal or account details.
FNB
gave more tips to ensure that customer money is safe:
§ Never access the FNB Online Banking or FNB Homepage sites via a
link. Rather type the address into the browser address bar or save the address
as a 'Favorite';
§ Avoid using public terminals
(such as Internet cafes) for your Online Banking;
§ Ensure that you have an updated anti-virus and spyware program and
perform regular system scans;
§ Do not open other websites while logged into Online Banking; only
have a single
browser window open;
§ Choose a User ID and password that cannot be easily guessed and
change these regularly;
§ Check for the padlock in your browser window (it indicates a
secure site). You can click on this padlock to verify the site
"owners";
§ When you complete your online banking tasks, log off and close the
browser window;
§ Don't trust a PDF payment proof unless verified by the bank -
these documents can be manipulated by fraudsters;
§ Register
for FNB’s free “inContact” service
that notifies you of any activity on your account and when you have logged into
your Internet Banking profile;
§ Never
provide your password over the Internet (by email) or over the telephone to
anyone (including persons identifying themselves as bank officials).
§ Do
not use your OTP (One Time PIN) on any email and when you do use your OTP make
sure you are on FNB’s Online Banking secure system and not on a phishing site
(check padlock).
§ Download
the Webroot software (free) from our website which enables the client to detect
phishing sites as well as viruses on the client’s PC. This software also protects clients login
details on any site (including Internet Banking) where a user id and password
is required.
For more information please contact Vicky Muranda,
Manager: Corporate Communications at FNB Holdings on telephone: (+264 61) 299 2944.
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