Gone Fishing - but not the good kind!

Last year and once this year our dealers were targeted by a ‘phishing scam’ - a bogus email  e.g:

A group of AutoBase clients received an email asking them to confirm their account – it had the AutoBase logo and branding on it and looked fairly realistic. When a few of our clients clicked on the link in the email, a website that looked exactly like the AutoBase site appeared with fields to enter their Username and Password. It all looked authentic – apart from the fact that the URL was wrong. When a few of our clients clicked on the link in the email, a website that looked exactly like the AutoBase site appeared with fields to enter their Username and Password. It all looked authentic – apart from the fact that the URL was wrong. This was the fake website which looked real as it was copied directly from our own site - However the URL was http://admin-autobase.com/ which is not the correct one. Our website would have come up as http://admin.autobase.co.nz/ - the mere difference of a ‘dot’ instead of a ‘dash’ and extension. 

Another example of the URL of the fake website a more recent scam used is www.idealerbase.co.nz instead of real www.dealerbase.co.nz. The mere fact of an addition letter in this case was a subtle change to the URL address.

Only a few clients actually entered their details, which took the Phisher into their AutoBase account where on some existing listings they reduced listing prices, added ‘Half Price Liquidation Sale’ to the comments, changed the images to look like an AutoBase brochure and changed contact details by entering an email address they had created. They also added bogus listings including all of this information.  Some viewers on Trade Me who saw the scammer’s listings took interest and emailed the bogus address, where they were asked to deposit money for the vehicle into the scammer’s account.

Luckily, bogus listings were spotted and reported to AutoBase within hours of the client entering their username & password into the link in the scam email.  Within hours myself, the General Manager and the IT team were in the AutoBase office. The bogus listings were pulled and amended and all clients’ passwords were immediately changed to protect anyone who had already sent the scammer their details. Every client was sent an email warning them of the scam and advising of their new passwords. Trade Me were notified and sent an email to every person who viewed a bogus listing, letting them know it was fake. The Police Departments National Cyber Crime Centre (yes, a Cyber Crime department does exist!) was contacted and the bogus site was shut down.  Due to the quick response, no sellers or buyers were affected - and the scammer got NO money!

You may have received one of the most popular phishing scam emails that appear to be coming from a bank asking you to confirm your account details. More often than not you don’t even belong to that bank! Phishers are ‘fishing’ for your personal details or even worse, your customer’s details – they want your username and password so they can access your private accounts such as your bank, email (Gmail, Xtra, Hotmail etc) or Trade Me. So how do you stay safe and avoid being duped? The rule of thumb to keep you safe is NEVER enter your username and password into a website link that has been emailed to you. If in any doubt, call the company who appears to be sending you the email – guaranteed it will be a scam. 

Scammers and Phishers are becoming increasingly clever. Click on the link and the website looks real, with legitimate looking logos and design exactly like the real thing - this is how victims are lured into entering their details. It looks real, so they assume it is real.   No matter how realistic the website looks, do not enter your username and password.

How do I identify a phishing scam?

• The email fails to confirm that the company does business with you (i.e. by referencing your account number)
• The email fails to address you by your name, and may be addressed ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ or‘Dear Cardholder’
• The email warns that you have been a victim of fraud
• The email says that you need to confirm or enter a new password
• The HTML tags behind the links on the email will reveal that the underlying URL usually does not link to a page within the authentic domain.
• You did not initiate contact with the sender or may not have expected to receive it
• The email contains grammatical errors and spelling mistakes

Do not reply to any email that requests your personal information, or click on the link provided. Again, if in doubt, contact the company who appears to be sending you the email. For more information, check the Ministry of Consumer Affairs scam information here.

Footnotes

 1. Scambusters NZ website - Click here