This week, it's IT administrators that are specifically targeted with a phishing attack. The bad guys know very well that the most powerful weapons are administrator's credentials, as those really are the keys to the kingdom. So, what they are using is the instantly famous report that Mandiant wrote about the Chinese military hacking into 141 mostly U.S. businesses. An infected PDF version of the original report, titled "APT1: Exposing One of China's Cyber Espionage Units, is now being used as spear phishing bait to get IT people to open it up using two fake names: Mandiant.pdf and Mandiant_APT2_Report.pdf The infected document leverages a just-patched hole in Adobe Reader and was first spotted in Asia. Keep your eyes peeled for it hitting your own inbox. In the meantime, the actual report is fascinating reading, and you can find it here at the Mandiant website: http://intelreport.mandiant.com/.

Source: Cyberheist News,  www.knowbe4.com

Note: links to third party sites are provided for your convenience.  Bank of Ann Arbor does not control their content.

Wednesday, February 27: It may be a snow day for the kids but all Bank of Ann Arbor offices are open as usual. Stop by any one of our seven locations for a friendly smile and a warm handshake.

All Bank of Ann Arbor offices are open on Presidents' Day, Monday, February 18.  Stop in to see us.  Transactions will be posted to your account on Tuesday, February 19 as the Federal Reserve is closed for the holiday.

Bank of Ann Arbor is aware of a text message phishing scam that may lead you to believe your Debit/ATM card has been deactivated. Please know that we do not send unsolicited text message alerts. The most recent phishing scam is tricky in that it requests you to call a phone number to activate your card and the phone number noted has a 734 exchange leading you to believe it is local. If you believe you are a victim of this scam, in that you have called the number and entered your card information please call 1-800-528-2273 and request that your card be cancelled.

Be wary of those who come bearing gifts. The most recent credit card scam works like this:

A phone call from someone who says that he is from some outfit called: "Express Couriers" asking if someone was going to be home because there is a package, and the caller says that the delivery would arrive at your home in roughly an hour. And sure enough, about an hour later, a delivery man turns up with a beautiful basket of flowers and wine. What a surprise for you (especially if there is no special occasion or holiday), and no-one certainly expects anything like that! Intrigued you ask who the sender is. The deliveryman's reply was, he is only delivering the gift package, but allegedly a card is being sent separately; (the card never arrives). There is also an official looking ‘consignment’ note with the gift. He now goes on to explain that because the gift contains alcohol, there is a $3.50 ‘delivery charge’ as proof that he had actually delivered the package to an adult, and not just left it on the doorstep to just be stolen or taken by anyone. Sounds logical doesn’t it? You offer to pay cash but he tells you that the company requires the payment to be by credit or debit card only, so that no ‘cash’ is exchanged and everything is properly accounted for. You take out your (or your husbands) credit/debit card and the "delivery man" asks you to swipe the card on the small mobile card machine which has a small screen and keypad where you now enter the card's PIN and security number. A receipt is printed out and given to you. 

Next week you will find that money has been charged/withdrawn from your credit/debit account at various ATM machines all over the country. It appears that the "mobile credit card machine" which the deliveryman carried now has all the info necessary to create a "dummy" card with all your card details, after you have swiped the card and entered the requested PIN and security number. 

Please be aware of this most recent scam and share this information with your family, friends, and neighbors. Any suspect description or suspect vehicle information should be reported to your local police agency.