HSBC warns of phishing

HSBC Middle East has issues warning in the UAE, after customers receive e-mails purporting to be from the bank requesting their account details.

DUBAI // HSBC Middle East has issued a "phishing" warning in the UAE, after customers received e-mails purporting to be from the bank requesting their account details. The e-mail asks customers to forward their personal details for a chance to win a Dh10,000 dirham (US$2,725) prize. HSBC warned customers against responding to the bogus e-mail which appears to originate from a site with a Russian domain. The bank yesterday urged customers to keep their financial information "safe and secure".

The bank said no losses had "so far been suffered" when contacted for comment yesterday afternoon. "The attack was discovered very early on and a substantial number of transactions have been stopped," said Jonathan Campbell-James, head of security and fraud risk at HSBC Middle East. "By taking pro-active action we have limited the effects of the attack on both our customers and the bank." The web link given in the mail, which claims to be sent on behalf of HSBC Middle East "e-customer services team", takes customers to bonushsbc.nxt.ru, a website registered in Russia, which is now blocked with a forgery warning.

"This website at bonushsbc.nxt.ru has been reported as a web forgery and has been blocked based on your security preferences. Entering any information on this web page may result in identity theft or other fraud," the note on the website said. Phishing describes the practice of obtaining personal information relating to credit cards, bank accounts or other financial information through the fraudulent use of e-mail.

"HSBC will never send e-mails that request personal or financial information or include links to any pages, including internet banking registration and log on pages, that require customers to input information," the bank said in the note, adding that customers should forward any fraudulent mail to the bank. Last year criminals targeted ATM machines in the UAE and stole as much as Dh100 million from customer accounts according to bankers' estimates.

The fraud forced many banks in the country to issue mass warnings via text messages to customers, asking them to change their PIN codes. Banks including HSBC also reduced customers daily withdrawal limits to as low as Dh500 as a precautionary measure. [e-mail]