Phishing emails, by which scammers and identity thieves attempt to lure you into either clicking on links contained within the email which download malware or providing personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft, are nothing new.   They are a staple of identity thieves and scammers and with good reason because they work. Reproduced below is a copy of a new phishing email presently circulating that appears to come from Chase Bank.
Chase is a popular target for this type of phishing email because it is one of the largest banks in the United States.  Like so many phishing emails, this one attempts to lure you into responding by making you think there is an emergency to which you must respond. As phishing emails go, this one is pretty good.  It looks legitimate and the version appearing in your email comes with a legitimate appearing Chase logo.  However, the email address from which it was sent is that of an individual totally unrelated to Chase and is most likely the address of an email account of someone whose email account was hacked and made a part of a botnet of computers used by scammers to send out phishing emails.   As so often is the case with these type of phishing emails, it does not contain your account number in the email nor is it personally addressed to the receiver of the email.
Here is a copy of the Chase phishing email presently being circulated.
“Important details about the lock of your account
Dear Member,
Welcome to Chase Care – Your Account Has Been Restricted
Here’s how Chase security works:
We monitor all customer transaction within the geographical area where the account was opened.
We monitor usual Transaction to keep you safe from attackers.
We block or restrict account if we detect unusual activity to secure your Account.
We sent out a mail to alert customer who’s account was restricted to unlock and enhance online security on 07/15/2018, if you receive and verify already but still get this message re-verify because your verification has not been received
We would like to remind you that we have restricted your account for security reasons. You are required to verify your Chase membership with us online in order to continue using our extended services and unlock your account.
verify online at ChaseOnline.com/helpdesk
Thank you for being our customer.
Sincerely,
Chase Fraud Department
E-mail Security Information
E-mail intended for Fraud Alert.
If you are concerned about the authenticity of this message, please call the phone number on the back of your credit card and reference the Chase Library Code: ES02ENG_2018. If you would like to learn more about e-mail security or want to report a suspicious e-mail.”
This Scam of the day is the 2,500th Scam of the day since the inception of Scamicide. At the time I first started Scamicide I had concerns that it would be difficult coming up with new scams each and every day, but unfortunately, scams and identity theft threats are so prevalent it is not a problem at all in coming up with new Scams of the day each day. We will be making some improvements to Scamicide.com in the upcoming months that I think you will find helpful. Meanwhile, I have a favor to ask. In honor of Scamicide’s 2,500th Scam of the day, I am asking each Scamicide reader to send a link to http://www.scamicide.com to five of your friends and ask them to consider subscribing. It costs nothing and it can provide much helpful information every day of the year.
TIPS
There are a number of indications that this is not a legitimate email from Chase, but instead is a phishing email. Legitimate companies would refer to your specific account number in the email.  They also would direct the email to you by name rather than directing it to “Dear User.”   As with all phishing emails, two things can happen if you click on the links provided.  Either you will be sent to a legitimate looking, but phony webpage where you will be prompted to input personal information that will be used to make you a victim of identity theft or, even worse, merely by clicking on the link, you may download keystroke logging malware that will steal all of your personal information from your computer or smartphone and use it to make you a victim of identity theft.
If you receive an email like this and think it may possibly be legitimate, merely call the customer service number where you can confirm that it is a scam, but make sure that you dial the telephone number correctly because scammers have been known to buy phone numbers that are just a digit off of the legitimate numbers for financial companies, such as Chase to trap you if you make a mistake in dialing the real number.
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is to go to the bottom of the initial page of http://www.scamicide.com and click on the tab that states “Sign up for this blog.”