Phishing FAQs | Sovereign Bank

What is "Phishing"?

"Phishing" is a form of email fraud and refers to a person or group of people who send out emails appearing to be from a customer's financial institution in an attempt to obtain a customer's personally identifiable information such as account numbers or Social Security Number information. These emails quite often include a message that could be alarming to a customer by indicating that immediate action is required. Customers are generally directed to a "fake" version of a legitimate site where the personal information can be "stolen."

What is the goal of "Phishing"?

The goal of "phishing" is to solicit personal data such as Social Security Numbers, passwords, card numbers, and PINs from unsuspecting victims via the Internet, and sell this information to other criminals who use it for financial gain. Criminals may also try to access a customer's accounts through online banking and set up false bill payments that send checks to the criminal or a conspirator. In other cases, criminals transfer funds from all available customer accounts, including credit cards, savings accounts, and home equity loans into their checking account. A copy of the customer's credit card or check card is then used with their PIN at ATMs around the world to withdraw cash from their checking account.

Does a "Phishing" email always come from a financial institution?

No, there are a number of different scams. The most popular is to pretend to be from a financial institution. However, recent "phishing" expeditions have pretended to be from a government agency, including one of the federal financial institution regulatory agencies.

How do I recognize a fraudulent email?

It can be very difficult. Many of these emails use logos, formats, and phrases that are identical to legitimate emails sent by a customer's financial institution. Some frauds are easy to spot because they contain misspellings, misused words, or even a copy of a Webpage within the body of the email. Others may provide more subtle clues, such as unfamiliar return email addresses or links to Websites that don't include the financial institution's domain.

No matter how convincing an email might look, or how compelling its message, do not provide your personal information—contact your financial institution directly.

Is "Phishing" a serious problem?

Yes, "phishing" is a very serious problem. Reports of Internet scams have more than doubled each year since 2001, but only 3% of customers who are victims actually report it. The Anti-Phishing Working Group estimates that "phishing" incidents are increasing by 50% every month, with as many as 5% of recipients either responding to or clicking the links within the fraudulent emails.

How can I protect myself from "phishing" expeditions?

Never provide your personal information to an unsolicited request (whether it is over the phone or over the Internet). Emails and Internet pages created by "Phishers" may look exactly like the real thing. If you did not initiate a communication, do not provide any personal information.

If you believe the contact may be legitimate, contact the financial institution yourself (you should be able to find phone numbers on your monthly statement or on the legitimate Website).

Never provide your password over the phone or in response to an unsolicited Internet request. Sovereign Bank will never ask you to verify your account information online.

Review account statements regularly to ensure all charges are correct. If your financial institution offers electronic account access, periodically review activity online to catch suspicious activity.

Type Web addresses into browsers instead of clicking on links in emails.

Change passwords and PINs every 30 to 60 days.

Keep anti-virus and anti-spam filtering software on your computers up to date.

Monitor accounts and credit reports. The 3 major credit bureaus are:

Equifax at 800-525-6285
Experian at 888-397-3742
TransUnion at 800-680-7289