Aug 30 2010
Bank of America Steps It Up To Stop Phishing
It is a sad reality that there are unscrupulous folks who send spam and phishing emails. Some of the most authentic looking and most dangerous spam messages I have seen in my inbox have been from phishers trying to replicate financial services emails. These fake emails usually notify me that my account has been frozen and then encourage me to click on a link or to reply with personal information.
Recently I received a legitimate and noteworthy series of emails from Bank of America. Their first email introduced updates to their alert emails so that their customers could expect what to look for. The new features include a new look, personalization, a security checkpoint, alert information and more. I am sure Bank of America has been dealing with spoofed emails for some time now, so hopefully these changes will reduce security headaches and help stop the spammers.
The first educational email from Bank of America draws attention to the forthcoming changes:
The second educational email from B-of-A explains the new features in more detail:
This is a strong campaign, especially for a company dealing with sensitive customer information like B-of-A. It is critical for financial institutions to set expectations for their customers so that the customers themselves are aware of what they are receiving, and can therefore recognize unauthorized emails more easily.
What do you think about the changes Bank of America has made? Do you think an email redesign will slow down the spammers? What else should businesses do to stop spammers? Share your thoughts!
