Bank of Montreal customers who have received text or email messages claiming that their accounts have been suspended are asked not to click on the links or follow the instructions in the messages. This is because the fake messages are phishing scams being sent by cybercriminals to trick Bank of Montreal customers into clicking on the links in the same fake messages, which go to a phishing website that steals online account credentials and personal information.
Once the cybercriminals have received their potential victims’ online account credentials, they will gain access to their accounts, steal their money and use their accounts fraudulently.
A Sample of a Phishing Bank of Montreal (BMO) Message
Subject: Final Reminder: Message ID - 38073
From: Bank.of.Montreal.ID-38073.unsuccessful3 .LoginAttempts3@oncology.wisc .edu
Date: Fri 3/31/2017 10:24 AM
Account access temporarily suspended.
We have recently detected suspicious activity on your BMO account.
Any unsuccessful login attempts that were made recently without your
consent were logged by our security system.
As a security measure we will suspend your account access.
To avoid full online suspension, please confirm your identity within the
next 24 hours by following our secure link below:
https://www1.bmo.com/confirm-account-number-38073
We sent this email to: fatta77@hotmail.com
This message has been sent by BMO-Financial-Group 2017
2851 John St, Unit 300, Markham, ON L3R 5R3
Bank of Montreal users who have received messages asking them to click on a link or visit a website in order to update, re-confirm or verify their accounts, should always go directly to https://www.bmo.com/ and sign-in from there. Once the Bank of Montreal users have signed into their accounts, they will be notified of updates and other important changes, if there is any.
Going directly to Bank of Montreal’s website (www.bmo.com) will prevent users or customers from becoming victims of phishing scams that steal personal information or online account credentials.