Account security

The subject of "digital identity" suffers from one big problem: what does it mean?

In researching this article, I concluded that it is so imprecise as to be meaningless except as an umbrella term covering a wide range of loosely connected topics. Perhaps, one day, these topics will converge but that day isn't now nor is it any time soon.

It's headed "Thanks for shopping 172.128.45.53"

It claims to be from PayPal Billing - with the address grant5978gol@gmail.com

But it's got information (albeit wrong) that suggests at least some knowledge of our company.

This spam scam is a fake from Santander in the UK

What is it with Hong Kong and its banks? The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has just announced yet another one is the victim of a passing-off campaign by internet fraudsters. It's the third this week and it's only Thursday.

And then there's this "In view of the latest situation of COVID-19, the HKMA hotline and Coin Cart services are temporarily suspended. The HKMA Information Centre is also temporarily closed to the public. Please visit the HKMA website/official Facebook page for details or latest updates:

Hotline services: HKMA website
Coin Cart services: HKMA website / official Facebook page
HKMA Information Centre: HKMA website"

A spam purporting to be for "Richard White" a customer of the Main Savings Federal Credit Union has arrived. It tells him that he has collected more than 15,000 "CURewards points". And it wants him to log into a website for one of several different options.

The mail looks very real - but obviously isn't as this publication doesn't bank with Standard Chartered. But what arrived in one of our inboxes a few minutes ago is a very active threat.

It's the old, old story: someone has what they think is a great idea then forces others to adopt it against their wishes, even when their wishes take into account their own security arrangements. This time, it's a bank and even they disclaim risks they force customers to accept. It's either a snafu in policy or a snafu in communications.

Welcome to Standard Chartered, Malaysia.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has identified a website which it says is fraudulent and a fake of a real bank's online presence. Of itself, that's not especially rare. But this one is different: the name of the site is in Chinese characters and there aren't very many of them around.