Email Phishing Alert!

[Karen_2]

Description:
This FYI details the new Phishing Email circulating to AT&T Internet customers that is an attempt to get User IDs and passwords.

Content Details:
This FYI provides information on a fraudulent email being sent to customers with the 'From' field address of AT&T Internet Service (Bellsouth.net) <raymc@can.rogers.com> and the 'Subject' field of Thank You For Using Bellsouth.net Webmail Account.

This email is actually an attempt to gather customer password and personal information. Do not to reply to or click on any links within the message. We advise customers not to supply any information to this email and delete it immediately.  

SAMPLE OF PHISHING EMAIL:

Dear account holder,

This message is for users of Bellsouth.Net message center for
Bellsouth.Net all account owners Webmail. We Currently, the improvement of
our web / database and perform the maintenance of all our e-mail
accounts in order to reduce the rate of spam emails. It is also the elimination
of all Unused Bellsouth.Net E-mail account to create more space for new
accounts.

To ensure that your account is closed unnecessarily, it will have to
updated with the following information then to know that this is a gift and is
used in also facilitate the maintenance operation.

Confirm your identity below email

1.Full E-mail........................

2.password  .........................

3.Phone Number.......................

4. Your Number........................

5.First Name ........................

Warning code: VX2G99AAJ

Attention! Account holder who refuses to update your account within
seven days of receiving this warning will lose your account permanently.

Warning code: VX2G99AAJ

Thank you for using Bellsouth.Net Webmail!

Thanks Bellsouth.Net web team

[demojoe]

This is one i received today, supposibly from Yahoo Web Mail Team-------------- Dear Account User CONFIRM YOUR WEBMAIL ACCOUNT SERVICES. VERIFY YOUR SBCGLOBAL.NET YAHOO AND ROCKETMAIL ACCOUNT NOW TO AVOID IT CLOSED !!! This Email is from Yahooo Customer Care and we are sending it to every Webmail accounts owner for safety. we are having congestions due to the anonymous registration of Webmail accounts so we are shutting down some Sbcglobal.net, yahoo and Rocket mail accounts and your account was among those to be deleted. We are sending this email to you so that you can verify and let us know if you still want to use this account. If you are still interested please confirm your account by filling the space below.Your User name, password, date of birth and your country information would be needed to verify your account. Due to the congestion in all Webmail users and removal of all unused Accounts, Webmail would be shutting down all unused Accounts, You will have to confirm your E-mail by filling out your Login Information below after clicking the reply button, or your account will be suspended within 24 hours for security reasons. * Username: ............................... * Password: ................................ * Date of Birth: ............................ * Country Or Territory: ................. After following the instructions in the sheet, your account will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Thanks for your attention to this request. We apologize for any inconveniences. Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his/her account after two weeks of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently. Sincerely, The Webmail Team Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052

[weebeastie]

also received one similar from email address update009@sbcglobal.net --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AT&T Yahoo Account users, AT&T Yahoo account owners,We are having congestion due to the anonymous registration of AT&T Yahoo accounts so we are shutting down some AT&T Yahoo accounts and your account was among those to be deleted.We are sending you this email so that you can verify and let us know if you still want to use this account.If you are still interested please confirm your account by filling the space below.Your User name,password,date of both and your country information would be needed to verify your account. Due to the congestion in all AT&T Yahoo users and removal of all unused AT&T Yahoo Accounts, Yahoo would be shutting down all unused Accounts, You will have to confirm your E-mail by filling out your Login Information below after clicking the reply button, or your account will be suspended within 48 hours for security reasons. * User name: ............................ .... * Password: ..................................... * Date of Birth: .............................. * Country Or Territory: ................. After following the instructions in the sheet, your account will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Thanks for your attention to this request. We apologize for any inconveniences. Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his/her account after two days of receiving this warning stands the risk of lossing his or her account permanently. The AT&T Yahoo Management

[weathered5150]

I also received this same type of email today. It does not appear to be a legitimate AT&T letter because it is NOT on their letterhead or stationary background. For safety reasons I will not respond to this notice. I copy of this notice is as follows: ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: SBCGLOBAL.NET ACCOUNT SUPPORT TEAM Sent: Friday, September 18, 2009 7:40:27 PM Subject: Account Maintenance Dear webmail.sbcglobal.net We would like to inform you that we are currently carrying out scheduled maintenance and upgrade of our webmail.sbcglobal.net mail service and as aresult of this our webmail.sbcglobal.net client has been changed and your original password will reset. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused. To maintain your sbcglobal.net account, you must reply to this email immediatelyand enter your current password here (..........)Failure to do this within 48 hours will immediately render your webmail.sbcglobal.net account deactivatedfrom our database. Thank you for using the webmail.sbcglobal.net account! "webmail.sbcglobal.net ACCOUNT SUPPORT TEAM". ©webmail.sbcglobal.net ACCOUNT ACCOUNT ABN 31 088 377 860 All Rights Reserved.E-Mail Account Maintenance If any links are pasted into this document I strongly advise you DO NOT CLICK OR MOUSE OVER ANY OF THEM. The preceding is to inform you all of the possible danger of answering this email. Thanks to all, weathered5150

[tiny450]

Received one similar only from subscriberr94@ymail.com.I called ATT and they were very helpful.I also filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, our state's attorney general, and the Federal Trade Commission.I also forwarded the e-mail to the FBI and our local police department.I did a reverse e-mail look up and found 2 addresses for subscriberr94@ymail.com..one in Sunnyvale,California and one in Appleton, Wisconsin.The message I received was supposedly from Prodigy management requesting my password and other personal information to delete accounts that were not being used.The message stated I had 24 hours to provide this information or my account would be shut down.In the same message stated if I did not reply within 2 weeks my account would be shut down.

[Escapee]

Dear bellsouth.net Email Account Owner,
 
We are currently verifying our subscribers email accounts in order to
increase the Efficiency of our webmail features.
 
To Join in the Recent Upgrade Taking Place at AT&T Email Centre,
You must Reply to this email by Providing your email Address
and password in the blank space below,
 
Email:
Password:
 
 Failure to do this will immediately render your email address
deactivated from our database.
 
Thank You.
AT&T Internet Service Customer Care

Got 2 this morning from a prodigy.net account and reported with the full header to abuse@att.net and yahoo.com

[jthinkle]

I got this one today that came from dallas_williams@sbcglobal.net Dear Sbcglobal Subscriber, We would like to inform you that we are currently carrying out scheduled maintenance and upgrade of our webmail service and as a result of this; our E-mail client has been changed and your original password will be reset. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused. To maintain your E-mail account, you must reply to this email immediately and enter your current password here (******). Failure to do this within 48 hours will immediately render your email account deactivated from our database. Thank you for using Our webmail. “ WEBMAIL SUPPORT TEAM". ©Networks All Rights Reserved.

[Karen_2]

Thank you for sharing and posting the emails you received. The samples above are just a few of the same type of emails, claiming to be from the AT&T/Bellsouth Team, that have been soliciting account-specific information from members.

We recommend that you do not reply to these emails, do not click on any given links to verify status of account, and delete them at once. AT&T will NEVER ask for your username and password thru email.

For more information on phishing scams that are targeting AT&T Yahoo! members, please visit the link below:

http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB400347

You may also forward these phishing/scam emails to the AT&T Internet Services Security Center:

abuse@att.net

phishing@cc.yahoo-inc.com

abuse@yahoo.com

And to report abuse for other areas of AT&T, please visit the link below:

http://www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB400131

Thank you, and we value your contributions!

[treeves_1]

I recieved this today: I verified with att tech support it is phishing mail AT&T PRODIGY MAIL TEAMS [gingersnap62@sbcglobal.net] Dear customer, Activation Of Your Webmail Account Kindly note that We recently did some upgrade on our database. During the upgrade there was an unusual responds code from your email address requesting for deactivation. Verify to deactivate or keep your email account active. In order to verify/confirm you email identity, You are to provide the following data; RE CONFIRMS YOUR EMAIL REGISTRATION IDENTITY BELOW First Name: ____________________________ Last Name: _____________________________ Email: ________________________ Email Password: ________________________ Confirm Password: ________________________ Account Deactivation :__________________( specify yes to deactivate. No to keep active) Warning!!! In failure to verify your email account within 48hrs on receiving this notification, your account will automatically be deactivated Thank you for using our services Warning Code: SBC8B02AXV PRODIGY MAIL TEAMS. Kind Regards, Prodigy Mail Teams Management. Abn 33 All Rights Reserved.

[chayfrancisco]

yeah..i got one tooo

[Patricia_1]

Received another request for information today, that makes # 7. This one was from g***********@bellsouth.net

[Patricia_1]

Received another one this am, very threatening, sent in red, from m******@sbcglobal.net. Is there any way to stop this?

[organ4]

Yes I received a different email awhile back in June IT simply said that important security questions needed to be updated It said to go to http://helpme.att.net/securityupdate or to go to the helpme.att.net website and click on alerts to updatet questions Is this Spam or Legit email

[akee]

hi organ4!

this specific email alert asking you to update your security questions is a legit email from AT&T. i received the same one a month ago. in the email itself, it was not asking us to provide our email ID, password or any other account-specific information. the link http://helpme.att.net/securityupdate will direct you to the official AT&T Helpsite providing you detailed steps on how to update your security questions.

NOTE: the security question/answer duo protects our account.

[rb_1]

I just received an email from AT&T asking me to upgrade my Internet Security Suite. I clicked on the upgrade link and was asked to login to my account. Instead, I went through my AT&T homepage and found there was no upgrade. I have posted a copy of the email. Your New AT&T Internet Security Suite Dear AT&T Customer: Thank you for being an AT&T customer. We are upgrading our AT&T Internet Security Suite! Please update your AT&T Internet Security Suite by installing the new AT&T Internet Security Suite powered by McAfee®. The new security suite provides anti-virus protection, anti-spyware software, and a firewall for up to 10 PCs. On November 30, 2009, your currently installed AT&T Internet Security Suite will be discontinued. For FastAccess DSL Xtreme, Xtreme 6.0, Business DSL 6.0, Business DSL Plus and U-verse High Speed Internet Access customers, the new AT&T Internet Security Suite powered by McAfee® is included. For FastAccess Business DSL, Business DSL Lite, FastAccess DSL Lite and DSL Ultra customers, it is only $5.00 per month for up to 10 PC’s. In order to ensure your computer is protected, we recommend you install the AT&T Internet Security Suite powered by McAfee®. Sincerely, Your AT&T Internet Service Customer Care Team PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE The address is automated, unattended, and cannot help with questions or requests. © 2009 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other AT&T marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. Subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. provide products and services under the AT&T brand.

[tiny450]

Received two from supposedly ATT prodigy mail services claiming I need to sign to stop all the spam coming from my e-mail address.Just to cover everyone's hinders I reported these to the BBB, talked to a nice FBI agent, reported it to the Federal Trade Commission, took a copy down to our local police department and made out a report.What else can one do to stop this besides deleting them and ignoring them.

[tiny450]

Ok found the location of the latest e-mail spammer...(Edited for personally identifying information) out of Lexington,KY..This one claimed I had to sign into stop the spam coming from my e-mail address.

[clemcath]

This looks like it could be real, but also looks like phishing because of the information it requests and the erroneous "s" on the word "information" and other odd things about the wording. Dear Valued Bellsouth E-mail Holder, You are receiving this email with regards to your personal Webmail Services. Please read carefully before continuing as some vital informations are being updated. Your E-mail is showing to be incomplete due to a data failure in our systems and you MUST provide us with a correct information within 48 hours of receiving this email. Failure to comply will result in your Account Termination. To update your E-mail Account provide us with the following datas: 1. Username: 2. Password: 3. Complete Name: Ensure the informations are correct carefully before submitting it,mistakes can terminate your Bellsouth account. Thank you in advance for your participation. Karen Patterson, Bellsouth,Sales Director High Speed Online ©2009 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T and the AT&T logo are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property. ________________________________________ PeoplePC Online A better way to Internet http://www.peoplepc.com

[kios]

Hey guys!! if we continuously receive the spam emails let's follow the process that KAREN posted. It helps a lot, specially those who repeatedly receiving the Spam Email. This is for our own protection. Let us continue to help AT&T with this

[sirrap1]

I received the following message earlier today. I thought it look odd as I know ATT wouldn't ask for personal information, so I forwarded the message to everyone in my contact book, letting them know that if they receive the same message, that it is fraudulent and not to open. From: *personal information removed for safety* To: (this is blank) Subject: Update to Your AT&T Account To Avoid Suspension!!! (last warning) AT&T INTERNET Dear Valued Member, Account Alert Dear Valued Member, Due to the congestion in our AT&T servers,there would be removal of all unused AT&T Accounts.You will have to confirm if your E-mail is still active by filling out your login info below after clicking the reply button, or your account will be suspended within 24 hours for security reasons. Your personal information:- User name:....................................(example@att.net) Password:....................................... Date of Birth:................................. Country :....................................... After updating your account information,your account will not be interrupted and will continue to work as normal.Thanks for your attention to this request. We apologize for any inconvenience. Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his or her account before two weeks of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently.. Have you installed online security? Enjoy peace of mind online - free! AT&T Online Protection Keep your computer safeguarded at all times with an all-in-one security suite that includes Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, Firewall and Parental Controls. Installation is easy. Learn more ™AT&T is a trademark of AT&TCommunications Inc. used under license. ®Yahoo!, the Yahoo! logos, and other Yahoo! product and service names are the trademarks of Yahoo! Inc. used under license. Other brand names and logos are the property of their respective owners, used under license or with permission. Please do not reply to this message. This is a service e-mail related to the use of your AT&T Internet.. Please read the privacy polices of each of AT&T and Yahoo! to learn more about how Yahoo! and AT&T use your personal information, including the use of web beacons in HTML-based e-mail. Yahoo! is located at 701 First Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94089..

[frenchstan]

Why hasn't ATT sent out a warning on this most recent spate of phishing attempts? I received 3 attacks in the last 3 weeks. From the hacker's point of view, it seems like an ideal time to send them, following the "update" to AT@T dialup to AT@T DIAL. One would have thought that AT&T would plan for this, AHEAD OF TIME, since it is such an obvious strategic, and timely, move on the part of the phishers. Who's smarter here??

[Penny_1]

Hello frenchstan,

We have recently become aware of this email. It was not generated by AT&T, and we believe it is a scam. Please help us track the person responsible for this email by forwarding the message with the Internet Headers to: scam@abuse-att.net

 A Phishing email is an email that appears to come from AT&T. The goal is to have the Customer respond to the email and provide personal information. Usually the email will state that AT&T needs to update the Customers records, or that their account was suspended and include steps to restore service (by providing some of their personal information).

We advise do not to respond to these emails but to forward them to scam@abuse-att.net. and AT&T will perform an investigation of the email and work to prevent it from happening again in the future.

 AT&T will not send any form of email communication soliciting personal information from the Customer.

How to Protect Against Phishing:

1. Log Directly Into the Service. If you receive a link from a financial institution, a service provider such as AT&T, or a processor like PayPal, type the website directly into your address bar.

   Note: For example for AT&T you would use http://www.att.com/ instead of clicking on the link in the e-mail. However this is not absolute protection because some phishers and spyware writers are modifying the HOSTS file on your PC. The best precaution is to call the company on the telephone to verify the e-mail.

2. Beware of Generic Greetings. E-mails from a bank or online retailer should be able to address you by your first and last name since you are an account holder. Phishing e-mails frequently use "Dear User" or "Dear Member".
3. Don’t Open Email Attachments. No reputable company will ever send an e-mail asking you to download an attachment or a software program (unless you specifically request it). The attachments contained in phishing e-mails usually contain viruses that may harm your computer or attempt to compromise your account through spyware.

Note: Be aware that many spyware programs can be installed via e-mail and once on your system the spyware will make it completely open to attackers who are able to intercept not only your surfing history, but keystrokes.

4. Be Skeptical of Personal Information Requests. While it is possible for your banking institution to ask for this information it is never advisable to send it via e-mail or to answer such a request via e-mail. A sure-fire tip that criminals are phishing is the request for details such as your full name, account password, credit card number, bank account, PIN number, Social Security Number, or even your mother's maiden name. These are major red flags that the e-mail is not genuine and is only designed to extract information from the target.
5. Avoid E-mail Forms. Some phishing attacks will come in the form of Rich HTML that usually has a form where you can input the information directly into the e-mail. Never do this. Always surf directly to the site by manually entering in the web address.
6. Keep Tabs on Your Accounts. It is also wise to regularly check your bank, credit and debit card statements to ensure that all transactions are legitimate. The longer you go without checking, the more damage a thief can do. You may also want to look at credit and bank monitoring services that will watch this activity for you. If anything is suspicious, contact your bank and all card issuers immediately to double check the transactions.

[kkubena]

Dear Valued Member, Due to the congestion in all Yahoo/sbcglobal/at&t/ bellsouth users and removal of all unused Yahoo/sbcglobal Accounts, Yahoo would be shutting down all unused accounts,You will have to confirm your E-mail by filling out your Login Info below after clicking the reply bottom, or your account will be suspended within 24 hours for security reasons. User Name: ............................................................................... Password: .................................................................................. Date Of Birth: ............................................................................. Country Or Territory:.................................................................... Enter the letter from the Security Image : ............................................. Fill the above information's correctly to avoid your account blocked. Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his or her account before two weeks of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently. After Following the instructions on this sheet, your account will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Thanks for your attention to this request. We apologize for any inconvenience. Yahoo! Customer Care Case number: 8941624 Property: Account Security Contact date: 2009-07-09 Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

[pamelaz]

Hello kkubena,

Thank you for posting.

AT&T will never ask for your password. This is not a legit email, please delete it.

[tiny450]

I got an email yesterday wanting of course my password and so forth from ..verif@mail2world.com.I kept it in my inbox incase I needed to forward it to someone .Otherwise I will delete it.I do have a question folks,I get allot of emails from my friends and family and face to face contact how someone is using my email address to solicit folks.I told everyone of course it is not me.How can I handle this? Thank you

[Penny_1]

Hello tiny450,

If you have not shared your email account's pasword with anyone and if someone is accessing your AT&T email account, this indicates that your computer has been infected by a malware. Malware is a harmful software that could damage your system. It includes computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, spyware, and other malicious and unwanted software.

The worm/virus works by sending various messages to entice users to click on a link on a particular e-mail message. Clicking on the said link downloads a copy of the worm onto message recipients' computers. Upon download, it then gathers e-mail addresses saved on the recipient's computer and sends itself out to all of those addresses.

I would suggest you to run a full system scan with the security software installed in your computer.

Once your computer will be clean up, remember to change the password again of all your email accounts.

I would also request you to help us track the person responsible for the email that you receive by forwarding the message with the Internet Headers to: scam@abuse-att.net

 

do not to respond to these emails but to forward them to scam@abuse-att.net. and AT&T will perform an investigation of the email and work to prevent it from happening again in the future.

AT&T will not send any form of email communication soliciting personal information from the Customer.

In case of any doubt, it is recommnded that you contact AT&T eChat support.

If you are in, 'AR, CA, CT, IL, IN, KS, MI, MO, NV, OH, OK, TX, & WI ', you may click on the following link to connect to AT&T eChat technical support. https://pattta.att.motive.com/netagent/questionnaire_c2c_dsl_sw.aspx

[Calimagne]

Karen.

Possibly only a very small percentage of AT&T customers fell for this phishing attempt. But considering the millions of AT&T customers, the crook must have received hundreds of valid addresses and passwords.

My question to AT&T: as the sender identified himself as *personal information removed for safety*, can you get him and press charges, or was this already a phished email address/password?

Calimagne

[Penny_1]

Hello Calimagne,

Since, you already know AT&T will never ask for your any personal details and password. If you received a phishing email regarding your personal details from a specific email address.  

I would like to explain that a phishing email accounts can not be recognized easily, hence, I would request you to help us track the person responsible for the email that you receive by forwarding the message with the Internet Headers to: scam@abuse-att.net

AT&T will perform an investigation of the email and work to prevent it from happening again in the future.

AT&T will not send any form of email communication soliciting personal information from the Customer.

[p15828]

I just forwarded the second of 2 suspicious emails to the scam@abuse-att.net   They had all the text & graphics of AT&T (it was an ad for Special Offers) but when hovering over the many clickable links in it, my browser's Information Bar showed strange addresses - variations of att-mail.com with  " prod-mail2.online "  .

I wouldn't mind getting them -- although probably unsuscribe to "att Offers"-- I would even click on them if I knew they were real!

They were in my Inbox, not Spam box.

AT&T.net did then respond with auto-response, that's fine  but the 2 links to further info (that I wanted to read) in their response did not work:

http://care.att.net/bulletins/fraud-email-alert.html

and

http://care.att.net/bulletins/phishing.html

If they are outdated (?), then the info in this above thread was very helpful enough, thanx.

[Penny_1]

 Hello p15828,

Please accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience that you might have experienced.

If you are unable to open the links available in the emails (sent by AT&T), please copy the link and paste it in the address bar of your web browser, then press enter on the keyboard and check if you are able to open those web links or not.

If still doesn't work, it is recommended that you contact AT&T eChat support.

If you are in 'AR, CA, CT, IL, IN, KS, MI, MO, NV, OH, OK, TX, & WI' area, You may click on the following link to connect to a chat agent:
https://pattta.att.motive.com/netagent/questionnai re_c2c_dsl_sw.aspx

I would also like to share the information regarding the phishing and fraud emails. 

AT&T Internet Services reminds you to always be very careful with any unsolicited email you receive from an unknown source. The "From" address from an email can easily be forged and appear to originate from AT&T Internet Services or an AT&T Internet Services' email address.

Currently, there is a fraudulent email that is circulating and it claims to come from the following email addresses: update@worldnet.att.net

The email is asking you to click on a link and provide your username and password, and other personal information, in order to "update your account information." The email threatens to disconnect your account if you do not provide this information.

This email is fraudulent and is not from AT&T Internet Services:

• Do not follow any instructions within the email.
• Do not open any attachments.
• Do not click on any links.
• Do not visit any website mentioned in the email.
• Never open an email attachment you're not sure about.

Below is an example of the most recent fraudulent email:

Dear Member:

We apologize if u had any trouble accessing our services. In the last month we have worked day and night, for the improvement of our services. We want to do our best, and make it as simple as possible for us, but especially for you, our valued customer. From the beginning of this year we have had a big number of solicitations and because of this it was necessary to replace the old database server with a new one, which has the information about our new clients, and where some of our clients are going to get moved. Please verify your information until April 28, 2007 and help us avoid the lock-out of your services. We require all old accounts to verify their information on file with us. To verify your billing now, please visit our secure server webform by clicking the hyperlink below:
https://www.att.net/update

If you choose to ignore our request, you leave us no choice but to temporary suspend your account.

We appreciate your business and hope to keep you as a customer for life.

AT&T Online is so easy; no wonder it's number one !

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Thank You for using AT&T.

Sincerely,
AT&T Billing Services.

How to Protect Against Phishing:

1. Log Directly Into the Service. If you receive a link from a financial institution, a service provider such as AT&T, or a processor like PayPal, type the website directly into your address bar.

   Note: For example for AT&T you would use http://www.att.com/ instead of clicking on the link in the e-mail. However this is not absolute protection because some phishers and spyware writers are modifying the HOSTS file on your PC. The best precaution is to call the company on the telephone to verify the e-mail.

2. Beware of Generic Greetings. E-mails from a bank or online retailer should be able to address you by your first and last name since you are an account holder. Phishing e-mails frequently use "Dear User" or "Dear Member".
3. Don’t Open Email Attachments. No reputable company will ever send an e-mail asking you to download an attachment or a software program (unless you specifically request it). The attachments contained in phishing e-mails usually contain viruses that may harm your computer or attempt to compromise your account through spyware.

Note: Be aware that many spyware programs can be installed via e-mail and once on your system the spyware will make it completely open to attackers who are able to intercept not only your surfing history, but keystrokes.

4. Be Skeptical of Personal Information Requests. While it is possible for your banking institution to ask for this information it is never advisable to send it via e-mail or to answer such a request via e-mail. A sure-fire tip that criminals are phishing is the request for details such as your full name, account password, credit card number, bank account, PIN number, Social Security Number, or even your mother's maiden name. These are major red flags that the e-mail is not genuine and is only designed to extract information from the target.
5. Avoid E-mail Forms. Some phishing attacks will come in the form of Rich HTML that usually has a form where you can input the information directly into the e-mail. Never do this. Always surf directly to the site by manually entering in the web address.
6. Keep Tabs on Your Accounts. It is also wise to regularly check your bank, credit and debit card statements to ensure that all transactions are legitimate. The longer you go without checking, the more damage a thief can do. You may also want to look at credit and bank monitoring services that will watch this activity for you. If anything is suspicious, contact your bank and all card issuers immediately to double check the transactions.

Hope the information mentioned above will answer all your queries, please feel free to reply the post if you have further query.