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PMA Customers,
It has come to our attention that customers of PMA have received emails, such as
the example below, notifying you that your account will be closed if you do not verify
certain account information. This activity is called "Phishing."
Phishers hijack brand names of banks, e-retailers and credit card companies to convince
recipients to respond by providing financial data such as
credit card numbers, account usernames, passwords and social security numbers.
Example of a Fraudulent Email:
Dear Customer,
We recently reviewed your account, and suspect that your LaSalle account may have
been accessed by an unauthorized third party. Protecting the security of your account and
of the LaSalle network is out primary concern.
Therefore, as a preventative measure, we have temporarily limited access to sensitive
LaSalle account features.
Click the link below in order to regain access to your account:
For more information about how to protect your account, please visit LaSalle Security Center.
Sincerely,
The LaSalle Security Department Team.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and appreciate your assistance
in helping us maintain the integrity of the entire LaSalle system. Thank you for your prompt
attention to this matter.
Please do not reply to this mail. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered. For
assistance, log in to your LaSalle account and choose the "Help" link in the header of any page.
Tips for spotting fraudulent email:
- Frequently these emails make some form of urgent appeal to provoke you to take action
immediately. For example, stating that your account may be closed if you fail to confirm,
verify or authenticate information immediately.
- There are embedded links that look legitimate because they contain all or part of
a real company's name. These links take you to fraudulent sites (or pop-up windows) that ask
you to enter, confirm or update sensitive personal information. Sometimes the emails instruct
the recipient to enter the information into the body of the email.
- There may be obvious spelling or grammatical errors.
- The writing may be awkward or inappropriate.
- The visual or design quality may be poor.
- Fraudulent emails typically will not provide alternative methods for communicating
the requested information (i.e., telephone, mail, and physical locations).
- Fraudulent emails often provide a general greeting and don't identify you by name.
- Fraudulent emails may contain attachments asking you to install software so that
fraudsters can use it to record your keystrokes and online activity.
Generally, Banks do not:
- Send urgent or time-sensitive emails thatask you to provide, update or confirm sensitive data
like your Online User ID or Password, Personal Identification Number (PIN), Social Security Number, ATM/Debit
Card or account number, credit card number or expiration date, or mother's maiden name.
- Require you to enter anything other than your Online User ID and Password.
- Send you an email that tells you to provide personal information because it's for your own security.
- Send you an email with input fields that ask you for sensitive information.
- Send emails without providing alternative methods of communication.
- Send email with attachments asking you to install software.
For more information and on how to report Phishing and other email scams access
www.antiphishing.com.
If you have any questions regarding your account, contact you PMA representative.
Sincerely,
Erik Jackson
Director of Compliance
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