Western Union phishing warning
10/03/10
Aberdeen City Council's Trading Standards team is warning city residents to be on their guard against a Western Union scam email.The warning comes after Councillor Kate Dean received one of these emails and passed it to Trading Standards.
The email appears to come from "Western Union ®" <security@westernunion.com>
and has the subject line "Thank you for using the Western Union Money Transfer ®…"
The text of the email is:
"Dear customer,
"Thank you for using the Western Union Money Transfer®.
"Your money transfer has been authorized and is now available for pick up by the receiver.
"Transfers to certain destinations may be subject to further delay or additional restrictions.
"TRANSACTION DETAILS:
"Your Money Transfer Control Number [MTCN] is: 0986194123
"Please use this number for any inquiries.
"Date of Order: Wed, 4 Mar 2010 09:04:18 -0300
"Amount Sent: $159,99
"You can cancel this transfer by download attachments below and follow the steps:
"Thank you for using Western Union!
© 2001 - 2010 Western Union Holdings, Inc., All Rights Reserved."
The attachment to the email is a link to a spoof website which asks the consumer for their bank details. The spoof website is very similar to the genuine Western Union website.
Principal trading standards officer Del Henderson said: "This is an example of a 'phishing' email which is designed to entice people into giving out their bank account or other personal details. Other examples appear to come from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), ebay or banks and building societies.
"The advice is don't reply to such emails and certainly don't give out any personal details – this includes passwords, names and addresses and bank account details."
Further information regarding scams can be found on the Consumer Direct website at www.consumerdirect.gov.uk.
Anyone wishing to report a scam email can do so by contacting Consumer Direct on 08454 040506 or by using the 'Report a scam' facility on that website.