Fake HSBC – http://www.hsb-ionline.com/uk

This little gem was left by the scammer as a comment on this site.  It simply said:

Contact this bank now with your evidence of being scammed and claim your scam compensation http://www.hsb-ionline.com/uk

Notice the web address – hsb-ionline.  When you go to that website it is a copy of the HSBC bank website.  At first sight it’s quite convincing – until you try clicking on most of the internal links, when you will find that the pages don’t exist.

Not sure how the scammer thought I could “contact this bank” as they’ve forgotten to put their fake contact details on the site.

Also, strangely for a scammer, if you click to login to internet banking nothing happens.  You aren’t taken to a fake login page and asked for your login details and bank details – at least not yet.  This site is new (registered around 3 weeks ago).

This is a timely reminder to NEVER click on a link to a bank website if it is given in an email.  Even if you think the link is legitimate.  ALWAYS enter the address of your bank’s website directly in to your browser.