The email message below with the subject: "Important Message," is a phishing scam being used by cyber-criminals to steal Barclays Bank customers’ information. The fake email message claims that access to the recipients’ online accounts have been blocked and they should click the link within it to restore full access. But, the link will only take the recipients who have clicked on it, to a phishing website, looking like Barclays Bank’s website, where they will be asked to sign-in with their account credentials. Once the victims enter their account credentials on the fake website, it will be sent to the cyber-criminals behind the scam, who will use it to gain to access to their victims’ accounts, where they will steal the victims’ money and use their accounts fraudulently.
The Phishing Barclays Bank Email Message
From: "Barclays"sales@easternfence.com
Date: 30 April 2016 at 11:52:36 am BST
Subject: Important Message
Unfortunately, we are unable to provide you access to our online banking system.
This is normally caused by one of the following:
Multiple failed login attempts
Inaccurate account information
Unusual account activity
Login from an unrecognised device
Please login to your account by clicking the link below which will allow you to restore full access. Untill you do so you will not be able to access any of our online banking features.
Login to get Started ↣
We apologise for the inconvenience this may have caused however this is a security feature designed to protect your details and should only take a few minutes to complete.
Your Barclays Team
It is important for internet users to remember that they should never click on a link to sign into their online accounts, especially links in email messages. The safest way to sign into their online accounts is to go directly to their online account providers’ websites, by typing the addresses of the websites in their web browsers or using a popular search engine to find the websites.
For example:
Barclays’ customers should type: “http://www.barclays.co.uk/” in their web browsers or search for “Barclays Bank” using a popular search engine.
Recipients of the phishing Barclay email, who have clicked on the link and have attempted to sign into the phishing website with their accounts’ credentials, should change their passwords and contact Barclay Bank immediately.