Outline:
Email claims that the National Australia Bank is going bankrupt and directs recipients to click on a link included in the message in order to read more information (Full commentary below.)
Status:
False – The link leads to a malicious website that can install a trojan on the users computer.
Subject: National Bank goes bankrupt?!People starting panic withdrawals, some of the accounts were reported closed due to technical reasons, many ATMs are not operating. Does it seem that one of the Australia’s greatest goes bankrupt?
The full story could be found here: [Link Removed]
Well, hope that isn’t true… Anyway You’d rather check your balance…
Detailed Analysis:
n mid June 2006 a new email scam began targeting customers of the National Australia Bank (NAB). The email claims that the NAB is going bankrupt and directs recipients to click on a link included in the message in order to read more information.
Clicking the link will open a webpage that may automatically install a malicious trojan onto the user’s computer. According to the Australian Computer Emergency Response Team (AusCERT), the trojan exploits vulnerabilities in both the Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers. AusCERT identifies the threat as a variant of the Haxdoor trojan.
If you receive a message similar to the one shown above, do not click on any links in the body of the message.
References
AusCERT:Malicious “National Bank bankrupt” email links to sites targeting multiple web browsers
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
