The successful phishing and losses of a bank should get your attention, so that you can learn from them and prevent the same type of losses at your bank. It doesn't matter that this bank is outside the US, part of the crime happened here and this could be any bank.
Nordea, a Swedish bank, has at least 250 customers who fell susceptible to a Trojan. More than 100 other accounts are still being reviewed. The Trojan is activated when the customer logs into their internet banking account. The customer would receive an error message and their information would then be sent to the phishers in both the US and Russia.
Approximately 900,000 Swedish Krona ($129,000 US) has been stolen but as noted, more accounts are under review. The bank was able to identify some transfers early and stop them before they were losses.
Were the customers irresponsible because they had these Trojans on their computers? Should the bank have to accept the losses? US laws protect consumer accounts and the bank would suffer the loss in most cases either because of the laws or the fact that confidence in these systems must be maintained for growth. This means that
prevention is the key ingredient to both confidence and growth.
When is the last time you reminded customers to update their virus protection programs, ensure their firewall was active and effective and perhaps provided an incentive for this. With the release of the new Microsoft operating system, many consumers are expected to upgrade their systems. Remind them, even show them, where these settings are and what they need to do to protect themselves from phishers, Trojans, viruses and the like. The dollars and time they save may be yours.
