E-Mail Scam Targets Citibank Customers

Citibank on Monday warned customers not to fall for an e-mail scam that threatened to shut down their checking accounts if they failed to provide their Social Security numbers.

Citibank, a division of Citigroup Inc., said numerous people received the e-mail, which purported to advise them of conditions affecting their accounts.

It said the e-mail linked to a Web site that looks like Citibank’s, and asked users for their Social Security numbers. Scammers can use such data to obtain credit cards or gain access to bank and other accounts.

Citibank urged recipients to delete the e-mail and call the customer service number on their automated teller machine cards. The bank said that it was working with law enforcement and that its computer systems had not been compromised.

The e-mail is an example of “phishing,” the use of spam, or unwanted junk e-mail, to lure computer users to Web sites that look like those of reputable companies and to deceive them into divulging personal financial information.

From Reuters