Washington Mutual warns of online scam

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Nov 13, 2004 by Jenifer K. Nii Deseret Morning News

Washington Mutual warned its Utah customers Friday that an e-mail from "Washington Mutual Personal Online Banking" asking for personal and financial information is fraudulent and should not be heeded.

The e-mail states in part, "We recently reviewed your account, and suspect that your Washington Mutual Internet Banking account may have been accessed by an unauthorized third party.

"Protecting the security of your account and of the Washington Mutual network is our primary concern," the message states. "Therefore, as a preventative measure, we have temporarily limited access to sensitive account features."

The e-mail directs recipients to click on a link and verify their identity and bank account information.

Darcy Donahoe-Wilmot, a spokeswoman for Washington Mutual's Northwest region, said the bank was "well aware" of the scam, which has been termed "phishing" -- referring to spam e-mail that tries to get users to volunteer information. The scheme has already hit Wells Fargo, Bank One, U.S. Bank and others.

"These scams have been the focus of the entire financial services industry as they have increased in frequency and reach," Donahoe- Wilmot said. "These scams target consumers, in general, and we urge anyone that receives these kinds of messages to know that their bank will not request account information or other personal information. If individuals have any questions about these e-mails, we encourage them to call their bank before opening any e-mail attachment or following any links contained in the message."

To guard against such scams, Washington Mutual recommends the following:

Be suspicious of e-mails with urgent requests for personal financial information.

Do not fill out forms in e-mail messages that ask for personal financial information.

Do not reply to e-mail messages that ask for personal financial information.

Avoid using links in e-mail to get to Web pages, especially if you suspect a message might not be authentic.

Ensure that you only use secure Web sites to submit credit card or other sensitive information.

Regularly check your bank, credit and debit card statements to ensure that all transactions are legitimate.

E-mail: jnii@desnews.com