Cyber criminals keep adopting new tactics to trap their victims. This also applies to a new savings bank scam before the Schleswig-Holstein Consumer Center warned, Because phishing emails sent by scammers don’t contain any links – most people are probably already familiar with this scam. Instead, the gangsters inserted a QR code in the email. An attentive user moving the mouse pointer over a link in an email to display the actual destination address has to bow before the QR code: the mouse-over trick doesn’t work there. This is really bad scam.
How to spot a scam
The phishing email has the subject line “Additional Verification Required”. At the top of the email is “Sparkse” followed by the famous red Sparkes logo. The blue-gray lettering used for “Sparkus” looks unusual.
Below this is the impersonal salutation “Dear Customer” (spelled exactly like this). The recipient is then told that his/her online banking needs to be verified as soon as possible so that he/she can continue to use the service (ie online banking). Allegedly, the savings bank is legally bound to check this profile.
As is often the case with such phishing emails, time pressure sets in: the recipient has three days to verify their data. Next to it is the QR code, which definitely leads to a fraudulent site whose sole purpose is to steal the recipient’s online banking details. The recipient should scan this QR code with their smartphone. This is followed by a “warm greeting” from “Sparkus’ IT department”.
how to react properly
Like all e-mail, this e-mail deserves only one treatment: a click on the Delete button. Of course without scanning the QR code or calling the stored website. Savings Banks do not send such emails. You can also tell the mail isn’t from a savings bank by the unusual logo and impersonal salutation. Also, as always, you can move the mouse pointer over the specified From address to display the actual sender.
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