[trst]

I got an email Thursday, that claims to be from fifth third bank. The text of the email (which I cannot copy and paste for some reason) says:

Date: Thu, 23 Nov 2006 03:25:42 +0400
From: "Fifth Third Bank, 2006" <online_support_id_672.cust@53.com> Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
Subject: Fifth Third Bank: URGENT SECURITY NOTIFICATION FOR ALL CLIENTS [id: 479]
To: XXX@XXXX.XXX

Dear Fifth Third Bank client,

The fifth third bank technical department is performing a scheduled software upgrade to improve the quality of the banking services. By clicking on the link below, you will begin the procedure of the user details confirmation.

The link is (don't click on it!) :

REMOVED LINK PROTECT MEMBERS QTIP

Edit so that no one makes any mistakes and clicks before reading.

These instructions are to be sent to and followed by all fifth third bank clients. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your cooperation.

Fifth Third Bank Technical Service.

It has the Fifth Third Bank symbol at the top and has all the FDIC info at the bottom. When I tried to highlight the email to copy and paste it, it wouldn't allow me to. So I right clicked and chose select all then copy and paste. When I tried to paste it into this thread, this is what came up:

in worshipping his piece of wood? But what is worship? thought I.

lasted till we entered my own gateway. Before we went to prepare for

asked him of some of the strange things of the preceding night, as for

to report to me, and I shall advise you, for of course I was not


How weird is that? When I tried to click on the link yahoo said it was a phishing website and recommends I don't continue to the website. Does this mean someone already has my information? What should I do about this?

[Pale Rider]

A lot of the real bank websites have an abuse section where you can report fraudulent emails. I get them for paypal and ebay all the time. The best tip is to never click on the link, but to go to the site directly by typing it in your browser. Also, usually if you put your mouse over the link without clicking, then look at the status bar in the bottom left of the browser it will show what site you are really going to. If you are suspicious do not click.

[Gib]

It is a phishing scheme. As long as you didn't provide any information, you should be fine. Just forward the email to the bank.

[trst]

Thanks guys. I've been really worried because I don't know much (absolutely nothing) about computer security and I was worried that by opening the email I made myself vulnerable.

[Hedwig]

No, only by clicking the link. If you didn't do that, you should be OK. As others have said, never just click on a link in an e-mail. Go to the site you know, or call them. Most banks and credit card companies will never ask you to give information based on an e-mail.

I get them frome e-bay and paypal and I don't even have accounts with them! I've gotten some from banks at an e-mail address that I have never given out to anyone. It's one where I forward and archive mail that I want to keep, and don't want a lot of stuff from other people coming in.

[roybean]

I got an email from these folks today and I politely deleted it.

[trst]

Sorry Qtip, I didn't think of that.

Thanks Hedwig. This email came to my school email that no one has but the school. I forward it to my Yahoo address, so thankfully Yahoo didn't allow me to continue to the site.

The text on the bottom was "whited out" my daughter has informed me. She said this is common and that is why it showed up when the document was highlighted to be copied and pasted.

I showed it to a co-worker yesterday and she said she had received something similar from BoA. She doesn't have an account with them so she didn't give information.

How sneaky they are!

[Hedwig]

Yes, it's a big scam now. The general rule is to never click on a link in an e-mail, and never give information in relation to something like this.

There was one that claimed to be from the IRS, even used the logo, and it was an identity theft scam, too.