Here are some frightening methods used lately to steal money out of your bank account.
Take note that these attempts are currently happening in South Africa. Below is the exact description I received from a very reliable source via e-mail. This is what happens when you have offshore accounts or local accounts.
First tie they sent us an anti money laundering from to fill in (By post to fax back) from JP Morgan Bank (all details correct except Nigerian fax Number) As we had just moved an account to them we were expecting such a form as it is a legal requirement when you have a new account with a banking establishment. Fucking clever! That one was really close because they had all details including correct signature. They were only caught because they did not follow the correct procedure. They requested that they sell all our accounts, liquidate all share holdings and transfer the proceeds to a bank account in Beijing after the fees had been deducted. 90% of our life savings. We now have a red flag on our account and they wont process any transactions unless they see us face to face….requires an international trip!
Next they called HSBC and said that (after stealing a statement from our post box) they had forgotten the Internet logon and code and were dully given it… They tried to process a transfer to a bank account in New York! However because the account had not had any withdrawals from inception they phoned us to confirm (on the farm 3 days ago). We have now red flagged this account as well and deactivated all Internet and phone banking! Can only use account Face to Face….again. This was a substantial amount but not too bad. Incidentally, their fraud department said that they are having so many problems from the SA accounts that they are no longer willing to open any new accounts across their branches world wide for anyone living in SA.
Third one on all shareholdings in SA. Once again post stolen. They took a statement from our broker and photo shopped the logo onto a letterhead. Did their homework used all right names phone numbers etc. Attached a from an "auditing" firm and introduced them as the company auditors and that they required information from clients in order to complete their audit…..account numbers, signatures etc…..we called the company (did not fill form in) as by this stage we were very wise to what goes on …..this account is now also closed with face only visits for withdraws.
We have now put a withdraw stop on all our other accounts and red flagged them all as it is only a matter of time! We are watching our SA bank accounts with interest…..
Anyway after much thought we decided the following:
All finances are kept under lock and key at home (and the keys are locked in a locked box and the locked box key is locked in another cupboard….info theft from home not likely.
Copy made of hard drive at home by maid for mates…..password protected.
Hacking…both run up to date antivirus, spy ware etc. software, besides no passwords and half details not on either compute r.
Common denominator…all attempts were linked to a postal incident. We are now changing our postal address for sensitive documents and moving to email where possible. Failing that we will take up a PO Box in London!
Now run all my personal info off a memory stick which is never attached when on the Internet. Stays around my neck in case computer stolen…they just get work stuff… the lengths you have to go to. So anyway quite a complicated process.
And there you have it. Comments are welcome. Please note all comments are moderated.
Take note that these attempts are currently happening in South Africa. Below is the exact description I received from a very reliable source via e-mail. This is what happens when you have offshore accounts or local accounts.
First tie they sent us an anti money laundering from to fill in (By post to fax back) from JP Morgan Bank (all details correct except Nigerian fax Number) As we had just moved an account to them we were expecting such a form as it is a legal requirement when you have a new account with a banking establishment. Fucking clever! That one was really close because they had all details including correct signature. They were only caught because they did not follow the correct procedure. They requested that they sell all our accounts, liquidate all share holdings and transfer the proceeds to a bank account in Beijing after the fees had been deducted. 90% of our life savings. We now have a red flag on our account and they wont process any transactions unless they see us face to face….requires an international trip!
Next they called HSBC and said that (after stealing a statement from our post box) they had forgotten the Internet logon and code and were dully given it… They tried to process a transfer to a bank account in New York! However because the account had not had any withdrawals from inception they phoned us to confirm (on the farm 3 days ago). We have now red flagged this account as well and deactivated all Internet and phone banking! Can only use account Face to Face….again. This was a substantial amount but not too bad. Incidentally, their fraud department said that they are having so many problems from the SA accounts that they are no longer willing to open any new accounts across their branches world wide for anyone living in SA.
Third one on all shareholdings in SA. Once again post stolen. They took a statement from our broker and photo shopped the logo onto a letterhead. Did their homework used all right names phone numbers etc. Attached a from an "auditing" firm and introduced them as the company auditors and that they required information from clients in order to complete their audit…..account numbers, signatures etc…..we called the company (did not fill form in) as by this stage we were very wise to what goes on …..this account is now also closed with face only visits for withdraws.
We have now put a withdraw stop on all our other accounts and red flagged them all as it is only a matter of time! We are watching our SA bank accounts with interest…..
Anyway after much thought we decided the following:
All finances are kept under lock and key at home (and the keys are locked in a locked box and the locked box key is locked in another cupboard….info theft from home not likely.
Copy made of hard drive at home by maid for mates…..password protected.
Hacking…both run up to date antivirus, spy ware etc. software, besides no passwords and half details not on either compute r.
Common denominator…all attempts were linked to a postal incident. We are now changing our postal address for sensitive documents and moving to email where possible. Failing that we will take up a PO Box in London!
Now run all my personal info off a memory stick which is never attached when on the Internet. Stays around my neck in case computer stolen…they just get work stuff… the lengths you have to go to. So anyway quite a complicated process.
And there you have it. Comments are welcome. Please note all comments are moderated.
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