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Although its a lot of money, only a handful of people are likely to be affected by this phishing scam.
What might happen next are 419 scammers who might make use of similar tactics to lure commoners with stories that “they have found Madoff’s money, and please pay a fee to get a share”. Pay money to get money scam.
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The “look-alike” site copies the artwork and structural design of the Securities Investor Protection Corp. (SIPC), the group formed by Congress to assist customers of insolvent brokerage firms that has issued the warning. It claims to represent the “International Securities Investor Protection Corp.” in what is described as a classic phishing site.
“We know from information provided to us by individuals that this bogus group is already attempting to obtain funds and confidential financial information from investors in the U.S.,” SIPC president Stephen Harbeck said. “We intend to use every available means to shut down this illicit operation.”
A phishing site is a form of identity theft, Ben Greenbaum, the senior research manager at anti-virus provider Symantec said. Scammers build an authentic-looking Web site to mimic another in hopes of tricking people into providing personal information, like credit card numbers.
The bogus site, which was located at I-SIPC.com, has now been disabled and a message reads “This Site is Temporally Closed.”
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