Outline:
Email purporting to be from US based bank Wells Fargo claims that the bank has implemented new security measures designed to protect customers from unauthorised login attempts. It claims that you must click a “secure update” link to update your credentials so that you can be part of these new security measures.
Analysis:
The email is not from Wells Fargo and the claim that you must click a link to update account security measures is not true. The message is a phishing scam that is designed to steal your Wells Fargo account login details and other personal and financial information.
Clicking the link takes you to a fraudulent website that has been made to look like the genuine Wells Fargo website. The fake site first asks you to log in with your Wells Fargo account credentials. It then asks you to provide your credit card details, name, address, and contact details, and other personally identifying information, ostensibly as part of the “security update” procedure.
All of the information you supply on the bogus site can be collected by scammers and used to hijack your Wells Fargo account, commit fraudulent bank and credit card transactions, and commit identity theft.
Always login to your online accounts by entering the address into your browser’s address bar or via an official app.
Last updated: January 12, 2017
First published: January 12, 2017
By Brett M. Christensen
About Hoax-Slayer
References
Wells Fargo “1 New Security Message” Phishing Scam
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
