That's Either Lazy or Stupid

[danalwyn]

So we're all used to getting those emails from people purporting to be our bank (or some other bank that we might be a member of) telling us that we need to confirm our online account IDs, or install their security software. It's the laziest type of phishing scam, but I can see how some people might, conceivably, still fall for it. After all, we're used to getting random mail from our banks that doesn't make a great deal of sense.

Today I received an email from a new bank: the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States of America.

I don't know what's more depressing, the idea that someone actually thought that people would believe that they had an account at the Federal Reserve, or the fact that it implies that some people, somewhere, are foolish enough to actually believe that they have a Fed account. Either way I'm not starting this morning too optimistic about humanity.

Comments

[silverjackal]

But "The Federal Reserve Bank" sounds wonderfully important and official. Therefore it must exist!

[danalwyn]

Actually, it does exist (this is sort of an American thing). The Federal Reserve does two things, it prints money (literally), and it issues bonds. It's not the kind of place where anyone who gets an email is likely to have an account (unless you have over a billion dollars that you use for Fed Open Market Operations).

[silverjackal]

Heh. Thanks for the explanation, but I did know what the Federal Reserve is, and that it *isn't* a bank per se. I was just remarking that it sounded very prestigious and important, and that people would have heard of it, and so it *must* be real, yes? I can see which impulses the phishers were trying to tap into.