THE number of residents reporting online-banking fraud to police and banks has increased sharply.
Their money was stolen after account holders were asked to upgrade their online-banking systems at fake Web sites, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.
Some people received messages from a mobile phone number claiming their online-banking systems for Bank of China had expired and needed upgrading. When they followed the instructions on the Web site, their account information and passwords were stolen and money was withdrawn from their accounts.
When I received the message, I did not think too much and just typed in my bank account and password. When the Web site said the upgrading had been successfully completed, 16,000 yuan (US$2,430) in my account had gone, a netizen, identified as Huang, told police.
According to Li Tiejun, an online security expert from Kingsoft Corp., about 459 similar fake banking Web sites had appeared on the Internet over the past two weeks and about 143,230 people had visited the Web sites.
Bank of China was already working with police to resolve the problem.
We noticed the fraud and sent at least three messages to clients in the past few days, warning them of the swindlers. We also asked clients to use an identity code which the bank sent to client s mobile phones when they conducted online business, an unidentified bank official said.
This method was similar to telecom fraud in which swindlers asked residents to type their bank accounts and passwords into the phone. Unlike telecom fraud, which targets older people, this method targets people under 30 and they were defrauded during online shopping, online chatting and through online banking services, an unidentified police officer said.
The bank suggested residents do all online banking only at its official Web site at www.boc.cn and not use online-banking services on public computers, such as in Internet bars or public libraries. Meanwhile, residents should never disclose their bank details.
(Wang Yuanyuan)
