Fraudsters lure Sparkasse customers into a trap with the Ukraine war

Fraudsters try to take advantage of the Ukraine war and use it to camouflage their phishing emails. Consumer advocates are now warning of this. The cyber gangsters send out phishing emails pretending to come from the Sparkasse. The e-mails use the general salutation “Dear Sparkasse customer” and use the red Sparkasse logo to appear authentic. The e-mails claim that the recipient’s data must be checked in order to implement the sanctions imposed on Russia for the attack on Ukraine. If this verification is not done by March 14, 2022, you will have to close your Sparkasse account and freeze the balance on it.

The customer should start the verification by clicking on the red button at the bottom of the mail with the inscription “Continue to the website”. After successful verification, a customer service representative would allegedly contact the customer to complete the process.

Of course, this button does not take you to the Sparkasse website, but to a fake website where your online banking data is supposed to be stolen.

How to react correctly

Delete such mails without clicking on the links and buttons in them. Your bank will never email you with a link to log in to online banking. Instead, always log in using your bank’s website saved as a bookmark/favourite.

Here is an overview of the phishing emails that have been circulating recently: