September 13, 2004
An e-mail "phishing" expedition is targeting Citibank customers. Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti says he is currently working with Citibank Security and other law enforcement officials in response to the scam, which may still be going on in much of the country.
Foti says special agents with the Attorney General's High Tech Crime Unit (HTCU) have received numerous complaints about an email being sent to email addresses around the country asking for Citibank ATM and checking account information.
Foti says it is important that consumers not respond to the emails. The same advice is being given by Citibank.
"Although the email appears to come from Citibank with a subject line reading "Private message from Citibank", it does not, and Citibank is in no way involved in the distribution of this email," Citibank said in a statement.
Citibank security personnel say recipients of this email should delete it immediately. They add that Citibank does not ask customers to provide sensitive information in this way.
"Customers who receive suspicious email purporting to be from Citibank are encouraged to report it to customer service at the number listed on their ATM card. Citibank's systems have not been compromised in any way," the bank said in a statement.
Similar phishing scams have impersonated other banks as well as AOL and Paypal, seeking to con consumers into providing credit card and bank account numbers. The sammers use the purloined information to open new accounts and make purchases.
