Zenith Bank ATM

Zenith Bank is a reputable bank, however the Zenith Bank ATM email I received is a scam.  This email is not from a banking institution, but rather from con artists who want to steal your identity.  It is imperative that you don’t respond to such emails. If you are worried about your own ATM card you can always call the bank or stop by at the branch.

Notice that the email is sent from: Zenith Bank [zenith.bank012@yahoo.com.co].  The real Zenith Bank has its own domain name and doesn’t need to use a Yahoo domain.  This is a sign of an unprofessional execution of a scam and emails such as this one should be avoided from the get-go.

The use of color to make the point more expressive is something we worry about in grammar school, but to you this should tell you that this email may lead to identity theft.  Most businesses use black text and logos, this one surely didn’t.

Dr. Pat Utomi is supposedly a Remittance Manager of Zenith Bank of Nigeria.  The telephone number is provided and an attention notice has been written.  The whole email has spelling and writing mistakes.  Spellcheckers exist now a days… right?

If you read the whole email you will see what I am talking about.  The email implies that you should not contact any other sources: agencies or bank officials.  Otherwise, you will not receive you ATM card loaded with $13,000,000 and an opportunity to withdraw $15,000 per transaction.  Don’t fall victim to identity thieves who are after your sensitive information and money.  Also, please don’t respond with the James Bond’s 007 code.  This is beyond silly.  Scams like this one are silly, yet they are very dangerous to those that actually respond.

Identity thieves and financial scammers don’t stop at this single email to get what they want.  They use persuasion techniques and even verbal force in order to extract funds from you.  There are instances where they may even threaten you or your family if you do not comply or think about reporting them to the authorities.  If you ever get another Nigerian email scam, or other fraudulent electronic mail, simply delete it and go on with your life knowing that the 13 million dollars never existed in the first place.