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Why the FBI Director Doesn't Bank Online

Posted by samzenpus on from the crime-almost-paid dept.

angry tapir writes "The head of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation has stopped banking online after nearly falling for a phishing attempt. FBI Director Robert Mueller said he recently came 'just a few clicks away from falling into a classic Internet phishing scam' after receiving an e-mail that appeared to be from his bank."

4 of 360 comments (clear)

  1. After reciving an e-mail that appeared... by fluch · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Why does he even consider any such e-mail worth reading?! That is the biggest fail in the chain of his doings....

    1. Re:After reciving an e-mail that appeared... by Thansal · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I would suspect you are right. I don't really know what Robert Mueller's background is (quick look at wiki says marines and law), but I suspect that he wasn't directly involved in cybercrime of any sort. Sure, he gets to make the ultimate decisions, but with lots of advisers/what not who (hopefully) know their stuff.

      And hey, at least he didn't ACTUALLY fall for it.

      Random note:
      The emails you do get from various online institutions don't look all that more legit than the ones from the scamers. I have received 2 notices that an account of mine had been compromised, and I was prompted to login (via a link) and reset my password. One of these was my EBay account I hadn't touched in years. I nearly just binned the email with out even opening it, but curiosity got the better of me and I read through it, checked the links, etc etc, and everything seemed legit, despite looking like a classic phishing attempt.

      --
      Do Or Do Not, There Is No Spoon, There Is Only Zuul. Everything in the above post is probably opinion.
  2. Re:Baby with the bath water? by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Mueller said. "Intruders are reaching into our networks every day looking for valuable information. Unfortunately they're finding it. "

    wait; who, again, are the bad guys?

    given their MO, I consider the feds and police to be 'bad guys' when it comes to their perceived right to 'sneek and peek' any damned place they want for any reason at all. attach a gps to your car? no problem. and on and on it goes.

    the government is THE WORST INTRUDER in our personal lives, these days.

    I worry much less about criminals. they have a lot less power over me and once they do their deed, they're gone from my life.

    --

    --
    "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
  3. Re:A novel concept... by kalirion · · Score: 3, Interesting

    At my university back in 2003, several professors in the Computer Science Department fell for those "Windows Security Patch" attachments sent by email from the "Microsoft Security Department."

    I'm ashamed to admit that I almost double-clicked the exe file myself before thinking better of it...