Bank Scam Email : LinkWeb and First National Capital Bank

For the record, this bank scam email described below is not from First National Capital. It is from imposters.

This bank scam had me going. I was blogging about it late at night, when I get tired and lower my guard, so I got paranoid and vowed to get a credit check in the morning. Luckily, I remembered to call First National Capital Bank of Omaha to verify my "account" that didn't accept the transfer. Here's the contact info if you need it: 1-800-228-4411

I got the website by Googling First National Capital. I'd never heard of it, not being from Omaha and all. I did not click on a link from the email. No no no. I did a search, found First National's website, and called a phone number. When the female customer service person asked for my information, I declined to give any, stating that I never had an account there. I told her about the transfer that apparently failed in my name. She was transfered my call to someone, who transfered me to a third woman who gave me the answer I was looking for. She knew of the scam email to "phish" or trick people into giving personal data by clicking on a special link that was set up by the scammers, which can plant "cookies" and other bad things into your computer to either lift information from your computer, as well as have you enter personal data like your social security number, bank number, pin number, phone number, etc etc. So to be sure, it was not sent by First National or LinkWeb. In fact, First National is investigating the fraudulent scam email.

Here's what the email said:

The email address that sent this: laserone@fnni.com
Who it "Says" it's From (this could be anything, so it's easy to lie): LinkWeb support
Subject: First National Capital Markets

"Dear Member!

Thank you for choosing Treasury LinkWeb service. Unfortunately there was a problem in processing your last transfer information for August, 2007. Please review our requirements at Treasury LinkWeb account management. You will be able to update your transfer information quickly and easily if using our secure server web form. You should understand that without prompt updating your private information, your Treasury LinkWeb service service can be discontinued. To update your information right now, please visit our secure server web form by clicking the hyperlink below.

We appreciate your business and hope to keep you as a customer for life.Treasury LinkWeb service is so easy, so no wonder it's number 1!

The products and services provided by the site you are entering are part of the First National Bank of Nebraska Corporate family."

Here's a picture of the email. It shows the link. It also shows that my gmail did not display the images set in them email. This is good. Enabling the images to display might trigger other cookies to do bad things. So, if you don't know who the email is from, it is best not to display images.



Moral of the story: don't ever respond to bank emails asking to verify your information.