Sparkasse alerts seniors to phishing scams targeting online banking

The Sparkasse Paderborn‑Detmold, together with the Paderborn district police, organized an information day for senior citizens titled “Die Älteren erobern das Netz”. Participants received guidance on everyday computer problems and, importantly, on online security. The event included a live demonstration of an SSL‑strip attack on a specially created “Bad WLAN” to show how unencrypted traffic can be intercepted and passwords captured.

At the same time, Sparkasse customers have been targeted by a new phishing campaign that impersonates the bank. The fake email, sent from the address info@ashoj.com, claims that users must activate a new “Freischaltung” in the banking app or their online banking will be blocked. It directs recipients to a non‑official website (www.spk.update-account-now.com). Sparkasse advises customers to recognise the fraudulent domain, ignore the email, report it to the bank and delete the message. The fact‑checking platform Mimikama confirmed the scam as a fake.