Customers of ScotiaBank Trinidad and Tobago (and Worldwide) have been receiving text messages instructing them to take action by logging on to a website to prevent them from having their ScotiaCard blocked, Fees Withdrawn, Account Closed and the list goes on. This smishing activity has been dismissed by ScotiaBank and they have warned users to ignore and delete such messages.
Smishing / Text messages may look like this
Clicking on the link in the text message (www.scotiabanktrinidad.com) leads you to a somewhat legitimate looking website
Some of the links on this site lead to an official ScotiaBank website however, the action to submit your credentials and sign in is where the Phishing activity takes place.
A closer look at the whois.com record for www.scotiabanktrinidad.com shows that it’s not owned by ScotiaBank but by what seems to be a Russian individual.
Needless to say, most banks if not all won’t send you these types of messages. While this article speaks about ScotiaBank, the smishing and phishing activity can be made to look like it’s happening from any bank.
Be very cautious of opening any emails or clicking on any links that imposes a sence of urgency to have you change your password or login to prevent something ‘bad’ from happening.
Even if you believe the message to be true, check with your bank first by giving them a call or a walk-in visit.
You can never be too safe in this regard.
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