[LINK] Bogus Commonwealth internet banking message

[Tom Worthington]

The bogus Commonwealth Bank NetBank message 
<http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/security/story/0,2000024985,20272945,00.htm> 
almost fooled me. The problem is that Commonwealth Securities (a subsidiary 
of the Commonwealth Bank) has previously sent out genuine messages which 
were so poorly formatted and worded they looked like scams. So when the 
real scam arrived, it looked genuine.

Below is the text of the scam message which I became suspicious of when I 
noticed the "1-888" telephone number. The original message included a 
plausible looking "NetBank" logo and to enter my user-id and password. The 
URL displayed is a genuine one for Commonwealth Bank's NetBank, but 
clicking on it actually took me to 
<http://64.46.113.74/netbank/bankmain.htm> where there was a message 
"Account for domain ezfabrics.com has been suspended". So someone has 
disabled the scam site.

I called the Commonwealth Bank (using a number from the phone book) and was 
told this was a known fraudulent message. However, I couldn't find anything 
on their web site warning of it.

NetBank appears to be a real <http://netbank.com/>, if not very popular 
<http://www.epinions.com/finc-Financial_Services-Online-Netbanks-NetBank>, 
US based bank. The scammers seem to have modified a message from the US 
NetBank using the logo from Commonwealth Bank's NetBank service to make 
their message.

>From: "admins at commonwealthbank.com"<admins at commonwealthbank.com>
>Subject: Netbank Security Server Update
>Reply-To: admins at commonwealthbank.com
>Organization: admins at commonwealthbank.com
>Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2003 20:22:24 +0300
>
>
>Dear Valued Customer,
>
>- Our new security system will help you to avoid
>   frequently fraud transactions and to keep your
>   investments in safety.
>
>
>- Due to technical update we recommend you to
>   reactivate your account.
>
>
>Click on the link below to login and begin using
>your updated NetBank account.
>
>To log into your account, please visit the NetBank
>website at https://www2.netbank.commbank.com.au/netbank/bankmain.htm
>Or you can login here:
>
>       Client Number:
>
>       Password:
>
>To review your statement, log into your NetBank
>account and click the eStatements & eNotices button
>in the left navigation of your Account Summary page.
>Your new statement is listed in the left navigation
>of the page.
>
>If you have questions about your online statement,
>please send us a Bank Mail or call us at
>1-888-BKONWEB (256-6932).
>
>We appreciate your business. It's truly our
>pleasure to serve you.
>
>NetBank Customer Care
>
>This email is for notification only. To contact us,
>please log into your account and send a Bank Mail.




Tom Worthington FACS tom.worthington at tomw.net.au Ph: 0419 496150
Director, Tomw Communications Pty Ltd ABN: 17 088 714 309
http://www.tomw.net.au PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617