Bank of England Hit by Hoax E-Mail Scam
Tue December 30, 2003 12:02 PM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England said on Tuesday it had intercepted over 100,000 fraudulent e-mails masquerading as computer security software issued by the central bank.

The bogus e-mail, which appears to come from a Bank of England administrator, instructed recipients to download a file attachment designed to protect individuals' banking details from fraudsters.

The Bank of England said it received scores of queries from companies and individuals asking about the e-mail's authenticity. It advised recipients to delete it immediately.

The e-mail comes amid a string of e-mail and Web site hoaxes posing as British banking institutions.

In the past few months, a rash of fake e-mails claiming to be from some of the world's biggest banks have appeared in e-mail in-boxes, attempting to dupe banking customers into divulging their bank details.

A spokeswoman from the central bank said technicians were working with the UK's National Hi-Tech Crime Unit to determine what -- if anything -- the file attachment was capable of, and who may have sent it.

It appears to come from somebody outside the UK, the spokeswoman said. She added the email address used -- [email protected] -- does not exist.

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Source: Reuters