According to this message, which purports to be from the UK’s Lloyds Bank, a pending e-payment sent to your account could not be completed. The email lists some possible reasons for the problem. It notes that you are “strongly advice” to click a link to confirm the incoming payment and thereby avoid a service suspension.
However, the email is not from Lloyds. It is a phishing scam designed to trick you into handing over your financial information to online criminals. If you click the link, you will be taken to a fake Lloyds Bank website and asked to login. After “logging in” on the fake page, you will be taken to a second bogus page that asks you to provide your credit card details and other information related to your bank account.
Finally, you will be redirected to the genuine Lloyds website.
But, alas, the criminals can use the information they harvested via the fake website to hijack your bank account as well as conduct fraudulent credit card transactions in your name.
Phishing scams like this one are very common and almost continually target customers of major banks and financial institutes around the world. Be very wary of any unsolicited email that claims that you must click a link or open an attached file to rectify an account issue.
It is always safest to login to all of your online accounts by entering the account address into your browser’s address bar or via an official company app.
Dear Lloyds Bank Customer,
There is a pending E-Payment into your account from our account department. This could not be completed.
The main reason for this could be as a result of the following
Recent changes in Billing Address
Recent changes in memorable word or Access Code
Unauthorized use of credit card payments
Abuse & Term of Use
You are strongly advice to rectify this by reviewing your online profile with us using the secure reference below to avoid service suspension.
Confirm Pending Incoming Payment
Yours sincerely,
Ashley Machin
Digital Banking Director 2015
Last updated: November 10, 2015
First published: November 10, 2015
By Brett M. Christensen
About Hoax-Slayer
References
Phishing Scams – Anti-Phishing Information
Phishing Scam Reports
Importance Notice
After considerable thought and with an ache in my heart, I have decided that the time has come to close down the Hoax-Slayer website.These days, the site does not generate enough revenue to cover expenses, and I do not have the financial resources to sustain it going forward.
Moreover, I now work long hours in a full-time and physically taxing job, so maintaining and managing the website and publishing new material has become difficult for me.
And finally, after 18 years of writing about scams and hoaxes, I feel that it is time for me to take my fingers off the keyboard and focus on other projects and pastimes.
When I first started Hoax-Slayer, I never dreamed that I would still be working on the project all these years later or that it would become such an important part of my life. It's been a fantastic and engaging experience and one that I will always treasure.
I hope that my work over the years has helped to make the Internet a little safer and thwarted the activities of at least a few scammers and malicious pranksters.
A Big Thank You
I would also like to thank all of those wonderful people who have supported the project by sharing information from the site, contributing examples of scams and hoaxes, offering suggestions, donating funds, or helping behind the scenes.I would especially like to thank David White for his tireless contribution to the Hoax-Slayer Facebook Page over many years. David's support has been invaluable, and I can not thank him enough.
Closing Date
Hoax-Slayer will still be around for a few weeks while I wind things down. The site will go offline on May 31, 2021. While I will not be publishing any new posts, you can still access existing material on the site until the date of closure.Thank you, one and all!
Brett Christensen,
Hoax-Slayer
