Han Ximin
POLICE have warned people with online bank accounts to be aware of a new scam where victims are asked to upgrade their online banking passwords.
A resident in Nanshan District, identified only as Zheng, received a text message Jan. 15, telling him that his online dynamic password would be invalid and that he should log onto www.boxcdx.com to change it.
Zhang logged onto the Web site, which seemed to be an official bank Web site, and keyed in his bank account, password and a dynamic password, fearing his business would be affected if he did not upgrade. The next day, he found 234,000 yuan (US$35,455) had been withdrawn from his account, police said yesterday.
Police arrested three suspects in Hainan Province and two others in Shenzhen who were allegedly responsible for withdrawing the money.
Police investigations showed the suspects had bought domain names overseas and designed fake bank Web sites that looked almost exactly like the real ones. They sent messages seeking bank account details and transferred the money to their own accounts in minutes.
Dynamic passwords are passwords banks provide to ensure online transaction security. Each password can be used only once.
Police warned card holders to verify the Web address of the banks before conducting bank transactions online. Suspicious messages should be reported by calling 110, by text messaging 0755-110 or by getting on www.sznet110.gov.cn.
