HOPE works hard to keep its online banking service secure and safeguard information about our members. A new malware attack is being seen in computers that could compromise people who think they are dealing with a legitimate online banking provider.
Victims of the attack report being presented with a customer service chat box during their online banking sessions when in fact their financial institution does not use an online chat feature. The attack is sophisticated and attempts to scam users into giving up personal information such as account numbers. HOPE does not use a chat service, so any reports of this activity should be taken seriously.
The potential security implications of such an act are clear. While members are often hit with phishing attempts by email, such data-mining attempts are usually easy to spot. But a chat box that appears in the middle of an online banking session and has an English-speaking human being on the other end can be very convincing, and it’s easy to see how people might be duped.
Please make sure that you are aware of any unexpected behavior seen during online banking interactions and report any incidents to HOPE at [email protected] or by calling 1-866-321-HOPE.
See an article about this new malware risk.