Phishing Scam Uses Neteller Name

[CareyG]

Phishing Scam Uses Neteller Name
By: Joan Peppin, Tuesday May 25th 2010

Neteller is one of the oldest and most reputed online payment solutions in the Internet gaming industry. Its credentials are impeccable and its integrity unquestioned. Yet some, as yet unidentified, persons have recently been using the Neteller name in order to extract sensitive financial information. Neteller's reputation remains untarnished, but this episode comes as a warning to online players who may be casual in divulging information they should not.

In order to understand the mechanics of this Phishing scam one has to go back a few years. At one time Neteller was a major player in the United States online gambling industry. It had thousands of account holders who used its services to make deposits at online casinos and online poker rooms. Then late in 2006 the UIGEA was passed and online gambling became illegal. The onus was on financial institutions to prevent funding of online casinos. Rather than risk jeopardizing its global operations by getting involved in legal cases in the United States, Neteller decided to withdraw from the American market. At that time Neteller was carrying deposits from its American customers. After some delay Neteller eventually cleared its debts under an Approved Distribution Plan that had the consent of the United States authorities.

Now the Off Shore Gambling Association has reported that some unknown persons have initiated a scam using Neteller's name. They are contacting the old American Neteller account holders and are claiming to be representatives of Neteller. They say that Neteller is willing to pay out further sums to its former American account holders but needs certain personal financial details so that the amount can be remitted. This is simply a phishing scam to extract sensitive information that can be misused later.

Neteller is aware of the scam and has responded swiftly. It has contacted all former American Neteller account holders and has informed them that all due payments were made according to the Approved Distribution Plan. Neteller has not contacted any former account holder after July 26, 2009, other than for completing initiated transactions.

It appears that the perpetrators of this scam have been partially successful. Despite the cautionary warnings that abound on the Internet there are some players who succumb to greed and throw safety to the winds. Fortunately there are diligent players as well. They have quickly spread the word around and nipped this phishing scam in the bud.

This is not the first time phishing scamsters have used the Neteller name. In 2008 some persons had contacted Neteller customers asking them to seek Neteller's permission if they planned to use the Neteller account away from their usual place of residence. They were told that if they did not do so their transactions would not be honoured. As a part of seeking permission they were directed to a link where they had to enter their account details and passwords. This information was intended to be used by the scamsters to clean out the accounts of the Neteller customers who fell in the trap.

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