Fake of America Email

Every day is like Christmas when I open up my junk mail folder. Today’s gem proclaims to be from Bank of America, but since it’s obviously fake, I’m calling it “Fake of America” in this article, or FofA. The email I received looks somewhat official, with the BofA logo and everything. There is also a link that seems to imply you’ll be taken to their website when you click it. Don’t believe it! Let’s look a little closer. The email itself states:

Dear Online Banking Customer,
Upon intensive reviews on your profile. We have noticed that you need to resolve important security issues on your account to prevent temporal deactivation. It is therefore recommended that you complete this process. Your security is important to us.

Please click on the link below to resolve this issue:

www.bankofamerica.com/upd.screc/id.2140180220.sessid/home.sec.index.cfm?page=update

We will activate fully functional upgrades on your account after this process must have been completed.

Bank of America

Online Accounts Department

I love the use of the word “temporal” instead of “temporary,” so obviously the person writing it lacks some basic English knowledge. The last line makes almost no sense whatsoever. And most important – take a look at that link. It reads a bankofamerica.com address , but when you hover over it, you’ll see that it actually links to a website in Mexico (see graphic below). While many of us recognize this as an obvious scam, there are still those who are fooled and readily hand over their banking information to these people. If you ever get an email like this, rather than clicking on the link, go to the website directly, log in, and see if there is a notification. Or call the branch and ask them. Email is a fool’s paradise, and that’s one journey you’ll want to miss, unless you plan on providing some email scammers with a hefty donation.

7/16/2012 Update
Another incarnation of the fake Bank of America email showed up here. The email read:

Dear Valued Member,

We noticed invalid login attempts into you account online from an unknown IP address .

Due to this, we have temporarily suspended your account.

We need you to update your account information for your online banking to be re-activated please update your billing information today by clicking here

After a few clicks, just verify the information you entered is correct.

Privacy and Security
Keeping your financial information secure is one of our most important responsibilities. For an explanation of how we manage customer information, please read our Privacy Policy. You can also learn how Bank of America keeps your personal information secure and how you can help protect yourself.

Sincerely,
BOA Member Services Team
P.S. The link in this message will be expire within 24 Hours . You have to update your account information
© 2010 BOA LLC. All Rights Reserved

The link actually goes to http://transasiaorphanages-hf.org/admin/JOHNNY/.www.bankofamerica.com/Bofa.html which is definitely NOT Bank of America!