Email Spoofing (Identity Theft)
Email spoofing is a malicious practice in which communication is sent from an unknown source disguised as a source known to the receiver.
Why talk to us
Since you are more likely to open an email from a person or company that you recognise, they trick you into opening the forged email, asking you to make a payment, to reveal personal and confidential information, or to download an attachment.
At Standard Bank we mitigate this risk by doing a telephonic verification with you or the authorised representatives of your account before we process a payment or act on any other instruction.
Things to take note of
HOW TO PREVENT EMAIL SPOOFING
While there isn’t a way to stop email spoofing, there are some basic security steps you can take to protect yourself from falling victim to it.
- Always verify sensitive messages or instructions you receive via email by calling the sender first
- Use your primary email account to communicate only with people you know and trust
- When you share your email address on a website or post information on a public online forum, use a second email account that you won't mind deleting later
- Be wary of senders who ask you to reveal information or perform an action that would put you or your organisation at risk
- Do not leave your computer unlocked if you are not using it
HOW TO IDENTIFY A SPOOF WEBSITE
Carefully check the URL of the site you are accessing. If it is not one of the Standard Bank Group's official website addresses, it is likely to be a spoof site.
Some of our official URLs are:
ALWAYS REMEMBER
We will never ask you to update personal information like PINs or passwords via an email or over the phone.
Since you are more likely to open an email from a person or company that you recognise, they trick you into opening the forged email, asking you to make a payment, to reveal personal and confidential information, or to download an attachment.
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HOW TO PREVENT EMAIL SPOOFING
-
HOW TO IDENTIFY A SPOOF WEBSITE
-
ALWAYS REMEMBER
While there isn’t a way to stop email spoofing, there are some basic security steps you can take to protect yourself from falling victim to it.
- Always verify sensitive messages or instructions you receive via email by calling the sender first
- Use your primary email account to communicate only with people you know and trust
- When you share your email address on a website or post information on a public online forum, use a second email account that you won't mind deleting later
- Be wary of senders who ask you to reveal information or perform an action that would put you or your organisation at risk
- Do not leave your computer unlocked if you are not using it
Carefully check the URL of the site you are accessing. If it is not one of the Standard Bank Group's official website addresses, it is likely to be a spoof site.
Some of our official URLs are:
We will never ask you to update personal information like PINs or passwords via an email or over the phone.
Since you are more likely to open an email from a person or company that you recognise, they trick you into opening the forged email, asking you to make a payment, to reveal personal and confidential information, or to download an attachment.