Mergers provide new twist on phishing

HARRISBURG, Pa. (7/15/05)--Internet scammers have come upon a new way to hook unsuspecting consumers--by using mergers of financial institutions as bait.

Customers of SouthTrust Bank, which recently merged with Wachovia, have been hit by phishing scams that reference the merger. The fraudulent e-mails ask for personal information to complete a conversion of online services.

"This is a good lesson for credit unions that are involved in or anticipating mergers," said Bret Davis, network administrator, Pennsylvania Credit Union Association (Life is a Highway July 14).

"Remind your members not to reply to e-mails that appear to be legitimately sent from the credit union, or any financial institutions for that matter, particularly if the message has a sense of urgency and seeks personal data."

Both the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) and Credit Union National Association (CUNA) have been phished in recent months.

Credit unions were a previously untapped group for these types of attacks, said Dorothy Steffens, vice president of web services, CUNA. Steffens detailed CUNA's defense against the scammers in a July 11 edition of the Poughkeepsie Journal.

Two Poughkeepsie, N.Y.-based credit unions--DOT FCU and Hudson Valley FCU--also were targeted by these scams.

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