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.  This was sent to me by a regular Scamicide reader.

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 not shown below.   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.  Another indication that this is a scam include the grammatical error of the words “banned access” instead of the proper “ban access.”  Finally, the email address from which the email was sent is totally unrelated to Chase and is most likely an address of a computer hijacked and made a part of a botnet.

Here is a copy of the Chase phishing email presently being circulated.

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 “Customer.”   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 website 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.  Alternatively you can go to http://www.chase.com to check on your account.

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