7 December 2006
Leading IT specialists have joined the UK payments association Apacs in calling for consumers to be extra vigilant in watching their online bank accounts this Christmas after a new Trojan worm was discovered to be draining current accounts of consumers' hard-earned cash.
The worm lies dormant within the consumer's PC, registering keystrokes inputted by them until it starts to recognise the URL links for internet banking websites. It then begins to log all of the keystrokes the consumer enters until it recognises the account details and passcodes.
This leaves consumers open to fraudsters draining their funds from the account as well as providing them with a way to use their current account details to shop online.
Sandra Quinn, spokeswoman for Apacs told Computeract!ve that conmen were more difficult to detect online because "fraudsters are doing exactly what we do when shopping online including handing over our details. However, the blame is shifting from retailers and into the hands of consumers".
News of this latest worm comes just days after Apacs launched its identity theft awareness campaign, designed to encourage consumers to make sure that their online transactions were safe by using Verified by Visa or MasterCard SecureCode to help keep their details secure.
Daniel Mothersdale, marketing director at online security company Webroot, who found the new worm, advised consumers to make sure that any security packages that they have installed on their PC are capable of protecting against Spyware.
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