Of late, I have been receiving emails stating that I was owed payments from amounts of $1.4 million (usually in USD) from banks. Wow. Thanks, man. I really need to clear off the loans from buying my house and other stuff. Just look at the email below. I didn’t realise that Bank of America (if it exists) owes me so much money.
I am so happy to have so much money that my problem is now solved. I just need to give all the intimate details so that my own bank account will be wiped out by the email sender. This way, I get the millions of dollars while my pitiful looking account is empty.
Now, how does one know that this is a scam for wiping out your bank account? I mean, if you have not signed anything, no one else but you should be able to close your bank account, right? Well, when someone knows your intimate details from date of birth and account number and full name, what makes you think the phone verification doesn’t work?
Putting money into banks is supposed to keep the money safe and gain some tiny amount of interest the longer your money stays in the account. However, to close and get your money, all the banks need is your date of birth, full name, your mother’s maiden name, your pet name, account number and that’s how your account can close by itself. All through the phone verification methods.
Money scams have been going on for years. We can’t eradicate that since the methods are varied slightly to throw off the scent. However, the most obvious scam is when you have never dealt with the bank before, the phishing is easy to spot. When you have used the bank’s services and still using it, you tend to close one eye and not scan through the email to ensure that it is a scam and not a genuine email from the bank staff themselves.
For more phishing scams, you can read the stories here. That way, the more familiar you are with the scams, the more alert you are about the calls and emails you have been receiving. We all work hard for ourselves and families, let’s be aware of the scams.
