Should I be worried about this

James_N

James_N

James_N

Soldato
Joined
25 Jan 2003
Posts
9,497
Hi

Recieved this email today:

Dear J Nolan,

Red Alert: We have found that some of your personal and financial information are compromised over the Internet.

Here is your information we found on the web:

[My Correct Address] [Mobile Number (which is wrong) (Town & Postcode) (My Name) (Current Natwest Switch Number) (Email Address) (Email Password)

We have encrypted few characters and numbers in your details as we are sending confidential information in an email. You need to contact your bank or concerned authority and follow their suggestions to protect yourself from fraud.

About Online guards:
Online guards is a proactive Identity Protection company fighting against Identity theft and Credit card Fraud over the internet. We monitor the web 24/7/365 to check if any of our customer's personal and financial information is compromised or prone to misuse by fraudsters. When we identify a threat, we alert our customer via Phone and Red alert email. Our customer can then react by contacting the bank or concerned authorities and take necessary action to stop being a victim of fraud.

For more information about us, visit our website http://www.onlineguards.com

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. How did you find my information?
In the process of monitoring our customer's information, we also come across other victim's information. Sometimes we do send red alert emails to help them.

2. Why didn't my bank inform me?
Your bank might not be aware of this theft as it happened over the internet and there might be many reasons for the information leak.

For example
1. You might be a victim of Phishing (Check the topics page on our website)
2. Your computer might be infected with a spyware application like Keylogger.
3. It can be hackers who gain unauthorized access to merchant databases where you submit your personal and financial information.
4. It can be a security breach of any firm where your information is stored.
5. It can be Physical theft.

Identity Theft : According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Identity Theft is the fastest growing crime in the United States. Identity Theft occurs when someone acquires your personal and financial information and uses it without your knowledge to apply for credit cards, make unauthorized purchases, gain access to your bank accounts or apply for credit and obtain loans in your name.

Please follow the links below to take necessary action and stop being a victim of Identity Theft.

Important: Flag your profile at the concerned authorities to avoid misuse of your information incase they are compromised. It would be a good practice to place a fraud alert on your credit report at one of the major Credit Bureaus if your financial information is compromised.

If your Credit cards, ATM cards, Bank login details, e-commerce Login passwords or any other financial information are compromised then please follow the link below:

http://www.onlineguards.com/securitycenter/reportidtheft.aspx

You might be interested in our proactive ID Monitor service which costs you $29.95 a year to avoid Identity Theft in the future. Please click the link below to know more about "ID Monitor for consumers".

http://www.onlineguards.com/services/idtheftsolutions.aspx

For more information on protecting yourself from fraud, please review the Topics and Security Center on our website.

http://www.onlineguards.com/securitycenter/idtheftvictim.aspx

For more information or any queries, please reply this email or call us at 1-201-331-2851 ( Monday - Friday 9 am - 5 pm PST ). If you are calling from UK,you can call us at + 44 0870 974 9080

Thank you,
Online guards Team.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an email from Online guards. This message contain information that is strictly confidential. If you are not the intended recipient,you may not peruse, use, disseminate, distribute or copy this message. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately by email or telephone and either return or destroy the original message.
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Ive blanked out the obvious bits in brackets and just put what info it contained, but all the info is correct apart from my mobile number.

Normally id not even read an email like this as its usually spam, but these details of mine are correct and i dont know how they have got them.

My Bank card is being cancelled tomorrow as ive snapped it (doh)

Do i take action with this or just leave it? As i say, normally id just forget about it, and im not too bothered about email addresses etc, but more worried about how they got my switch card number etc.

Thanks
James
 
If it's got your mail password I'd be concerned, and I would definitely look into it.
 
whois records:

Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
guards, Online [email protected]
Panasa Web Solutions Pvt Ltd.
201, Shenaz Jeddy Arcade
Hyderguda
Hyderabad, AP 500029
IN
1-201-331-2851

Yahoo address, registered in india hmmzz.. However the switch number and email password are correct? If they have your email password then is it possible they got the switch number from somewhere?
 
Last edited:
Time to change the old passwords and contact the bank tbh. And maybe have a think about how your email password was acquired..
 
Una said:
Looks like a scam to me:

whois records:

Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
guards, Online [email protected]
Panasa Web Solutions Pvt Ltd.
201, Shenaz Jeddy Arcade
Hyderguda
Hyderabad, AP 500029
IN
1-201-331-2851

Yahoo address, registered in india hmmzz.. However the switch number and email password are correct? If they have your email password then is it possible they got the switch number from somewhere?
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of my switch number, it only has the first 4 and last 7 digits, but they are correct.

For my email password, it has the first letter and last 2 letters, which are correct. Ive just changed my email password, but i use that password for most other things too :(

I guess with the switch card number, Its useless without expiry / start dates and the 3 numbers on the back of the card, but even so, its a little worrying.

I dont visit or put my card number into dodgy or unsecured sites either.
 
I would contact your bank explain the email and cancel you card. Check your bank statements for any strange transactions and maybe virus check your pc - just in case.
 
shine said:
Could be a typo, the rest of the site looks professionally put together. If it is a scam they have gone to a lot of trouble.
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Indeed, having a dig about on their sites makes them look pretty legit. Especially http://www.youtube.com/user/onlineguards

I wonder if they have noticed your details being posted on a phishers/scammers message board and contacted you because of it. Whatever the case contact your bank directly asap.
 
mp3kla said:
Well it's an american company, +44 is the international code for England... Some 0870 are free to call, others can b up to 8p/min.
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My recollection is you can't call 0870 and similar numbers from abroad, our support line is a 0870 number but foreign callers have to use a +44 (0) 207... (which maps to the same extension) number to get through...
 
Una said:
Indeed, having a dig about on their sites makes them look pretty legit. Especially http://www.youtube.com/user/onlineguards

I wonder if they have noticed your details being posted on a phishers/scammers message board and contacted you because of it. Whatever the case contact your bank directly asap.
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Might look legit but scammers will go to any lengths to get details and money, watched watchdog on iplayer the other day and some people were scammed when they bought something off this site, and the sit was very professional and everything on it seemed legit but it was not.
 
Maybe they've planted the keylogger on your computer and are hoping by sending you that email you change all your passwords so they have them all. Its a bit out there with the tin foil hat brigade but just speculating
 
I work for the Natwest/RBS fraud department and have never heard of this company, whether its a scam or not I would cancel your cards and ignore the e-mail to be on the safe side. If the bank notices something fraudulent or are informed by someone (ie the police) that your card has been compromised then we will contact you. Quite why someone would set up a website to do the same thing I'm not sure. Certainly not out of the kindness of their hearts. Seems a bit dodgy to me.
 
They have your info and want to charge you 30 dollars to keep it safe. Sounds like the kids "can I watch your car" scam outside football grounds :p

If they have your password I'd change it and scan your PC you obviously have used that e-mail address/password on a forum (most of which are out of date and easy prey for hackers) perhaps a BB style forum which seem to be compromised on a regular basis. I would say only use 1 mail account for banking and don't use it for forums etc.

I'd pick answer 3 as the most likely.
 
I'd change the e-mail password from another computer, ring the bank and ask their advice and as suggested virus/spyware check on your computer.

Saftey first and all that.
 
I think the best thing to do is contact your bank to be on the safe side. Then hand a copy of the email to the police.

Syphs missus.
 
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