Bank warns of possible phishing attacks

(Patria) - "Various scam attempts are a daily occurrence on the Internet, and we have witnessed the organization of fake prize draws on social networks, and recently citizens have also received an SMS message containing a malicious link, using the name of Raiffeisen Bank. Therefore, we ask all clients to take care of the protection of personal data in order to protect themselves from misuse, and to ignore and immediately delete such messages," said Karlheinz Dobnigg, President of the Management Board of Raiffeisen Bank.

Phishing attacks are attempts to extort confidential data from Internet users, such as usernames, passwords, and card details, for the purpose of their misuse. This can be through fake e-mails, SMS messages, prize draws on social networks, or any other electronic channel. These attacks most often contain a malicious link or attachment, or call on citizens to send a picture of their personal documents. In case of receiving a suspicious message, the advice to citizens is not to provide their personal data under any circumstances, nor to open links and attachments contained in the electronic message.

"I would like to point out that Raiffeisen Bank never asks clients for personal data via e-mail or SMS, and all information that the bank communicates through these channels is of an informative nature," Dobnigg emphasized.

There are several ways to recognize a phishing message. Namely, such messages very often contain grammatical errors and look unprofessional. Scammers most often imitate well-known companies or institutions by using their visual identity, such as logos or fonts, or by forging the sender's address. Although phishing messages may appear to be sent by a legitimate company at first glance, reputable companies never ask users for personal data in this way, so it is easy to recognize that it is a scam. Additionally, phishing messages may contain threats or rewards in order to motivate users to do what the message instructs as quickly as possible.