I truly hate Absa, and they haven’t done a thing to me.
If you’ve ever run an email account without any spam filtering on, you’ll have had an inkling of just how much spam is piling up across the net, a veritable flood of dirtybits looking for tiny cracks in the dyke.
The spam filters run by our ISPs and on our local PCs do a huge amount to stem the flood, but when spammers are out on phishing expeditions (in search of our PIN numbers) using bank addresses/names that cannot be blocked by the ISPs because of all the legitimate traffic that has to be parsed, the situation gets truly messy.
That’s why I hate Absa. It seems the phishing mafia just love them because day in, day out the Absa spam floods my mailbox. Maybe it’s because Absa customers are dumber than those of other banks, so they’re more prone to handing over their PIN numbers and having their accounts fleeced, but whatever the reason, this must be becoming a marketing nightmare for Absa.
(Of course I have set up Outlook rules to kill off the spam, but I can’t stop it on my BlackBerry which is increasingly becoming my messaging device of choice. Any ideas?)
Imagine if the core emotional association generated by your brand is a brew of intrusion, deception and disgust.
Sorry Absa, BUT that’s exactly how you are being processed in my cortex these days. If you pitched me an interest-free mortgage I’d likely refuse; that’s how ugly you look to me right now.
Scamming is killing everyone. That the banks are the main target might?? make them think – I doubt
I have exactly the same problem! Really irritating!
What I hate is that when you report phishing they act as if you are insulting them. They tell you straightvout that they are aware of that phisher.
However I am yet to see a piece of paper in their Customer centres or banking hall about the problem. We know why becuse they see the phishing as the customers problem not theirs.
It may help to know that one must always look at the URL or email address from your bank it will from Xbank.co.za but the email header will always tell you that it does not.
Most are HTML mails that have hyperlinks links. Hold the mouse over the suppoosed login / go here / check your stsus etc. link and you browser will should tell you if the site certificate is valid and the true URL.
Now why does Your bank not tell you this? Simple because if the phisher overcomes the built in security within the browswer or email account your bank may be open to a claim. Nice to know that they look after the customers interests before their own LOL.
Best just delete the emails even when they come from attorneys who say they are acting on behalf of your bank. That one throws you a curved ball particularly when you are not endebited to anyone.
That is the latest scam. Finding people who are in debt then pretending to be acting as the claims agent. where does all this personal information originate likely from government.
I am also not keen on ABSA for a variety of reasons built up over 35 years of banking with them. However: What on earth are they supposed to do about this, apart from what they (and all the other banks) are already doing? Fact is, it takes a dumb customer to give away his credentials, and be fleeced. Survival of the fittest.
I agree Bruce. It seems like not a day passes without multiple message from ‘ABSA’ wanting my details & threatening dire consequences unless I supply them. Does send out bad messages about ABSA.
I have been receiving false phishing emails as well over the last week, which ask me to ‘update’ my ABSA account details. If one places your cursor over the link supplied in the email, it’s simple to see that the site link IS NOT an ABSA site and most of the ones sent to me, seem to originate in Korea. We can hardly blame ABSA for this. Also beware of emails that purport to come from SARS, informing you that you have a refund waiting for you, and then asking you for your banking details. Again, if one checks the origin on the link, it’s clearly from some overseas scammer. What concerns me is how the scammers know that my email is linked to an ABSA account?. Has ABSA’s client details database been hacked?
Same here – at least 2 or 3 “please update your personal details” scams daily and ABSA don’t give a toss.
Luckily for me I don’t bank with Absa but am also receiving all this irritating Absa spam. My sister banks with Absa though, and on spending ages trying to get a response from their ‘customer service’, her firm impression was that they are fully aware of the problem but couldn’t care less.
I don’t bank with Volkskas (sorry, I mean ABSA) but hardly a day goes by without them telling me that my online account has been frozen unless I contact them. So I draw my moiney from the bank that has my account and there’s no problem. But who heads ABSA and what relationship does the bank have with the thieving shits that run the country?
if you are dumb enough to bank with absa, then you deserve to be spammed.
it’s that simple.
i have a serious and irrepairable relationship with Absa, for a different reason though. with regards t to the issue on discussion though, i have to say that i exonerate the bank from what its accused of. i receive regular notification from them assuring me that the bank would never ask me to disclose my personal details on any platform other than at the physical bank itself or on my web profile. still have no intentions of pursuing the relationship though. ridiculous bank charges and stinking customer service are only a tip of the iceberg of the issues that led to the divorce
South African banks drive me mad, but much of it is not their fault (other than their fees which are disgustingly high), they exist in a free market country with Stalinist monetary controls.
You problem with your blackberry can be solved by only using your normal email account through your blackberry and not blackberry’s programme. I receive and send my university email and my hotmail account on my Blackberry with no issues. It also affords you the full protection of your email filters already in place.
Me too, but I cant stand ABSA for a variety of other reasons too… One being utter inefficiency of their staff, the lack of knowledge regarding the policies of the bank and the different stories I get from different people about the same issue whenever I call.
@mundundu – Perhaps it is stupid to bank with them… but it is such a hassle to move banks… especially if youre doing business banking… and where do you go to… FNB was probably worse when I started opening business accounts…
Interesting comment on the Blackberry. I battle with that one too. Anyone know how to put a spam filter on a blackberry?
No, really, get an ISP that does decent spam filtering.
i hv the same problem.after i read ur blog i received a similar msg from Ned Bank. what irritates me more is that i don’t hv any connections with these banks. i am a resident of Botswana and during my four yr stay in SA i was using Standard Bank.
I’ve also picked up that it’s generally Absa more so than other banks, where fraud happens. Not only online, but with ATM withdrawals too. (Had such happen few years back and I’m not even Absa client. But the card fraud was at Absa ATM machine.)
I eventually received a refund when I threatened to lay charges, but any explanation about what happened was refused.
Also, a friend’s aged father was almost crooked out of a couple of hundred thousand when staff checked his ID number on his investments. When they saw his age over 80, they tried their luck but failed; my friend worked for an auditor who got things sorted in a day. Absa again.
Oddly enough, I bank with Absa and receive no spam or phishing scam email. Of course, I use Linux and Thunderbird plus my own email domain. not Windows plus Outlook plus a free mail service.
Absa’s service is, of course, utterly wretched, and to describe their charges as “extortionate” is an insult to real extortionists. But it’s not really their fault that scam artists are targeting their clients.
I get the ABSA spam as well, but only at work with the Windows/Outlook setup.
At home with Macs I never see ABSA stuff, but phishing attempts using my bank’s name do occur. ABSA had my work email address in connection with a bond that almost happened years ago, but not the home email.. I wouldn’t be surprised if the banks HAVE sold their customer’s email addresses to these crminals!
The ‘Big Four’ are rotten to the core. While the phishing claims may not stick it would be great to have other, more serious claims [collusion] investigated. Many are certain that decisions taken on the golf course are designed to unilaterally rip the cash out of our pockets, a la cement manufaturers, millers, bakers and who knows who else..?
David Bullard has touched on something and I would suggest that the money-spinning strategies employed by ALL of the banks are blessed by the hierarchy, with the payback being the funding of election promises….eh…??
The only dealings I have with ABSA Bank are when I pay someone who banks with them online. I also get a fair bit of spam from them but just delete it. No big deal really but figure it has something to do with my payments which has enabled them to lift my e-mail address.
Technology for phishing scams moves just as fast as the technology for spam filters. It’s ridiculous
LOL