Scammers Pose as Citibank

Watch out for this suspicious e-mail.

A few of my colleagues received a legitimate-looking e-mail this morning from Citibank, with the subject line "Failed Login Attempts." One colleague found it pretty convincing, but another knew it was a fake because she doesn't have a Citibank account.

The e-mail says the recipient has three failed login attempts and should login to his or her account immediately, with the word "your account" linked. Don't click on the link.

Recently, I warned you about another e-mail scam. That one tells recipients that their bank has failed and directs them to a fraudulent site.

Subscribe to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

Be a smarter, better informed investor.

Save up to 74%
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hwgJ7osrMtUWhk5koeVme7-200-80.png

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters

Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.

Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.

Sign up

Never click on any link sent to you in an e-mail, no matter how convincing the message. Once you click on the link, you could have a difficult time telling if the site is authentic or a scam. (Not to mention that doing so will also signal the sender that your e-mail address is active, which could spawn more spam.)

Instead, verify requests for personal information. If an e-mail looks like it is from your bank, for example, use the Web address you usually use to access your account and confirm the request through the site's "Contact Us" link.

Follow me on Twitter.

Cameron Huddleston
Former Online Editor, Kiplinger.com

Award-winning journalist, speaker, family finance expert, and author of Mom and Dad, We Need to Talk.

Cameron Huddleston wrote the daily "Kip Tips" column for Kiplinger.com. She joined Kiplinger in 2001 after graduating from American University with an MA in economic journalism.