ANZ customers being warned over hoax email

ANZ Mastercard Apple Pay Android Pay — A woman looks at her iPhone as she walks past a sign announcing a new branch of the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) in central Sydney, Australia, April 27, 2016. Reuters/David Gray

Cyber criminals are targeting ANZ customers with a fake email saying their “last payment was unsuccessful.” Customers are advised to take extra caution.

The fake ANZ Bank e-mail prompts ANZ account holders to log in to questionable sites where cyber criminals can steal their credentials. MailGuard, a cyber security company, believes the fraud email has already been sent to several people.

“The email, from a display name of ANZ internet Banking and sender email address of customer.data@anz.com, claims that ANZ have been unable to contact you, and asks customers to click to update their phone number,” MailGuard states in a blog post. The company warned that when recipients click through, it will lead them to a well-crafted ANZ internet banking landing page and will be prompted to enter their Customer Registration Number (CRN) and password.

MailGuard further warns that phishing is more sophisticated than only targeting login credentials. It states that for those who continue past the online banking login page, the cyber criminals try for even more sensitive data. They ask recipients to reveal the answers to three “security questions.”

How to know if it’s a scam

There are several ways for customers to know if the email they received was a scam. “In this case, the landing page resides at https://djarlo.net/anz which is a clear indication that it’s not a genuine internet Banking page hosted by the ANZ Bank,” MailGuard explained.

There are clear grammatical errors that hint the email is not from ANZ. According to the company, such errors are red flags or early warning signs that the letter may not be legitimate.

ANZ said customers must delete the email immediately. Those who have responded to a hoax email, clicked on any links, downloaded any attachments or noticed unusual payments should contact the helpdesk immediately.

Meanwhile, the Victorian state government has released the first version of its cyber security strategy, according to ITNews. It made Victoria the first state to release a dedicated cyber security plan that promises to deliver confidence in government IT and digital service.

Special Minister of State Gavin Jennings had launched the new strategy and a three-year rolling program of work at an Australian Information Industry Association in Melbourne. The latest move, which was first announced by the former liberal government in 2013, seeks to offer a whole-of-government approach to protecting services and businesses from cyber attack. It includes several partnerships with businesses and organisations.