Happy New Year everyone, and welcome back to work (if you have been away).
I arrived at the office today to find an email in my inbox from BNZ. It all looked very legitimate but the information in it made me look twice to ensure it was in fact legitimate.
A couple of items caught my attention and I share these hoping that this is helpful to you:
- I do have a BNZ account but the fact that I did not get this email in my personal email account (only my work email) made me suspicious;
- The title of "Steven Ross" is "Operations and Outsour Manager" (I thought it should be "outsource"). Often phishing emails contain spelling errors; and
- With a quick Google check on the Freephone number provided in the email I realised it was not the same number as advertised by BNZ. Their number is 0800 275 269 (0800 ASK BNZ).
Needless to say I contacted BNZ, and they were not aware of this email and I assume its only starting to "do the rounds". The lesson here is NEVER take these types of emails at face value. ALWAYS check!! The number two lesson is NEVER click on only link in these types of emails until you have checked.
Phishing is the fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers. Data Security is very important, and we need to be very careful whether at work or at home about how we are sharing this information online.
Should you receive these types of emails, feel free to check with ISG straight away, and NEVER click on the link!!
