| The Fake SunTrust Online Banking Site: (Scroll
down to compare to the actual site.) |
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The hypertext of the email message above appears to be
directing the recipient to the Internet banking page of the legitimate
web address of www.suntrust.com but
it is actually a link to a bogus URL
www.interbanking-suntrust.com
with an authentic-looking domain address. The fake site was only
accessible for a short time after the email went out. It was
shutdown by
the early afternoon here in Alabama on November 18 (GMT -6).
The fake site was hosted on a webserver with an IP address of:
217.76.132.24 assigned by RIPE (the Regional Internet Registry for
Europe) and appeared to be assigned to an entity in Spain.
The actual site, 167.181.31.85, is assigned to SunTrust Service
Corporation; 250 Piedmont Ave; Atlanta, GA 30308.
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ABOVE is the Fake Site.
BELOW is the
Actual SunTrust
Site. Can you spot the differences? |
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Notice the protocol portion of the Internet address of
the two sites. The fake uses standard http while the actual site
uses the more secure https. Therefore, in the lower right-hand
corner of the two browser windows the fake site has a
 , whereas the actual site displays a
 .
The fake website, otherwise, was a very convincing replica of
SunTrust's actual banking site. It's gone
from this address but is being replicated elsewhere regularly.
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|
 The
bogus site has been taken down from this address, if you were to try to visit it now you
browser would display it as shown to the right. The emails are still
being sent directing recipients to other short-lived fraudulent URLs.
They are constantly on the move. Protect yourself from
fraud while online by never sending personal or financial information
using email. For more information:
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Links to other pages here:
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New threats of phishing attacks are making it more
difficult to protect bank customers from identity theft and fraud. An
increased sophistication in phishing scams makes it even harder to
discern the difference between a legitimate bank e-mail message and a
fraudulent one. One new type of attack can result in stolen personal
data even if the recipient of the fraudulent e-mail is not fooled by it.
When a bank customer opens the e-mail, a program attached to the e-mail
by the phisher silently runs a script - even if the customer deletes the
message without clicking on any embedded links. When that customer
attempts to visit his or her bank's legitimate Web site - during that
session or a future session - the malicious code redirects the person
being phished to a fraudulent Web site.
Adapted from article at:
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=54201204 |
Updated: Dec 8, 2004 |