A man in England who was victimized by a phishing scam found himself being blamed for it by his bank. 19-year-old Billy Brown got a phishing email claiming to be from the bank, and a few days later a check for a little over 8,000 pounds-roughly $11,000-was deposited into his account, and later a withdrawal for the same amount was made. Not surprisingly the check bounced, leaving Brown’s account overdrawn. What is surprising is that the bank immediately closed his account and blacklisted his credit rating because it insists Brown knowingly gave his bank info to the scammers, inferring that Brown himself may be one. Because of their actions not one bank in the UK will give him an account.

          “Although they didn’t say it, the way they spoke to me makes me think they suspect me of carrying out the fraud, which is ridiculous. I didn’t have an overdraft on that account so there’s no way they should have allowed that money to be withdrawn.

“But instead of admitting fault they’ve blacklisted my credit rating, preventing me from getting another bank account anywhere else. It’s outrageous.

“And on top of all that I probably won’t be paid this month because Sainsbury’s say it’s a condition of my employment that I have a bank account into which my wages can be paid.”

Unless the bank has concrete proof that Brown is part of the phishing gang, their actions are way out of line. Thousands of people fall for phishing emails every day as spammers make them look more and more like legit messages. I almost fell for one myself not long ago. It was from Amazon and informed me the email address on my account had changed and to log in if the change had not been made by me. Without thinking because I was in a hurry,I clicked the link and logged in, but as soon as I saw the form asking for my bank account number, mother’s maiden name and credit card info I closed my browser. Upon looking at the email closer I noticed the to: line said “undisclosed recipients”. That was a red flag right there. A legit mail would have been addressed to me only. Then and only then did I notice the email said “Dear User” rather than my name. I logged back into Amazon and changed my password immediately, and no harm was done. But it goes to show you that if I, who writes about this stuff everyday, can nearly fall for a phish, anyone can. (And yes, I felt like a real fool. Color my face red!) I think that Mr. Brown did indeed fall for the phishing scam but doesn’t want to admit it. If he was a scammer he really wouldn’t care about losing his account, now would he?

Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Is the bank in the right or did they just victimize Mr. Brown all over again?