Barclays bank - odd email

[lynbrown]

Just had a very weird email supposedly from Barclays Bank, saying they were about to terminate my accout. I dont have an account with them, plus the wording is so obviously wrong I dont believe it can be genuine. There was a link for me to look at but i never opened it. Does this sound like a scam?

[marval]

Yes it is a scam, just delete it.

[DSJ]

They try it on all the time. Please don't open the link.

[bricro]

I got something similar but the spelling gave it away.

[McMouse]

I get about 20 of these per week and now bin them unopened. I used to print them off and send to the bona fide bank asking why they didn't get it sorted. The only comment ever made was "they are sent via servers abroad and outside the jurisdiction of UK authorities"
Given the vast amount of fraud you'd think get onto this.

[ChuckFickens]

I'm surprised you even needed to ask if it's a scam.

(to give some idea of the scale of these sort of mails, my systems filter out about 2million scam mails similar to this one a month at work)

[cazzz1975]

banks will never email you asking you to confirm your details or terminate your account

[lynbrown]

Thanks everyone, except Chuckfickens. Sarcasm isnt nice.

[sara3]

lyn, I would think Chuck would be surprised (as was I) that you're not already receiving dozens of these a week. I think most of us do, but spam filters usually shift them elsewhere.

[lynbrown]

Thanks Sara. I too have filters which made the arrival of this email all the more worrying. Not for a minute did I think it genuine, but thought it would be good to hear other peoples experiences.

[sue11]

I too receive hundreds of these type of emails and delete them. However a word of warning to those who think that those who get caught out are just easy marks who deserve to do so. I nearly got caught myself by an email claiming to be from customs and excise, that just happened to sound very similar to a discussion that I had been having very recently with them. I was caught off guard and thought it was genuine.
I was just about to open the attachment when I suddenly saw that I had received it more than once and was suspicious. In a futher conversation with a business colleague, he mentioned that he too had received this email and opened the attachment, which contained a virus that wiped a lot of information from his pc.

I suspect that the fraud scammers also get a certain amount of success rate in this manner, if they send it out to thousands, they may get a hit rate of one or two customers who perhaps just happen to be in circumstances similar to the email they have received, open it and act on it thinking it is genuine?
Cheers Sue