Why Phishing Works

ajt on 2005-08-15T10:02:50

On Friday my bank cold called me to ask me if I was a happy customer. I don't mind letting the bank know how I feel, so I told them I'd answer their questions. Then they asked for some details to confirm that I was in fact the person they thought I was. I refused, they cold called me, so they prove that they are my bank before I prove that I'm their customer.

I then called my bank ask them if they were really carrying out a customer satisfaction survey, or if someone had been trying to scam me. I was quickly put though to a local member of my bank (i.e. not offshore), who confirmed that there was a real survey going on, and that several other people had already complained that it seemed like a phishing scam too.

If banks ring people up and demand configential details, no wonder people easily fall prey to phishing scams. Until they did this I was actually happy with my bank. It's amazing how much damage a marketing depatment can do to an organisation though stupid tricks like this.


Tonight Programme

barbie on 2005-08-15T11:06:11

A few weeks ago, the Tonight programme did a survey in the street with bogus market researchers. They were asking all sorts of questions then finished up saying as a thank you they would deposit a sum of money into their bank account for them. A very high number gave them everything. On questioning the interviewees afterwards, some where gobsmacked they'd been duped, some were wary but thought girls as lovely as that couldn't be dishonest, and only a few refused to give that kind of information.

We're just too trusting.

Re:Tonight Programme

ajt on 2005-08-15T13:27:52

I think it's well known that many people will give out pretty much any information if asked. Normally most people are decent, so most of the time it doesn't hurt. However, with computers and the Internet it's easy to spam millions of people easily, which inverts the ratio of good to bad.

It's ironic, my bank is very proud of the fact that they don't send emails, and even have an email address to send phishing emails too. Then some clown in marketing decides to ring up a bunch of "premium" customers, and then ask for confidentail details for confirmation of identity, before carrying out a customer satisfaction survey. Thus generating a flood of complaints from previously happy customers...

The marketing department of [insert name of any major corporation] were the first against the wall when the revolution came...

Re:

Aristotle on 2005-08-15T14:10:10

$title =~ s/Phising/Phishing/;

Re:

ajt on 2005-08-15T20:38:14

Dyslexia strikes again...