TSB Phishing Scam– How to Remove Active Infections

Martin Beltov

Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.

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This article has been created in order to help you by explaining to you how to remove the TSB Phishing Scam which can be encountered via email messages.

The TSB phishing scam is a recent example of a large-scale campaign against the financial institution. It is being performed by an unknown criminal collective and has already impacted many users. Read on to learn more about the scam.

Threat Summary

Name	TSB Phishing
Type	Scam / Malware
Short Description	Aims to trick victims to be redirected to a third-party site that hijacks sensitive personal data.
Symptoms	Email messages that claim that the target’s account have been compromised.
Distribution Method	Via e-mail messages that imitate legitimate security-related Apple message .
Detection Tool	See If Your System Has Been Affected by TSB Phishing Download Malware Removal Tool
User Experience	Join Our Forum to Discuss TSB Phishing.

TSB Phishing Scam – Overview

One of the first indications of the TSB phishing scam was the large-scale email campaign that took place in April. According to several news sources and Action Fraud (UK’s cybercrime reporting center) the peak infections happened in the period between April and May. The coordinated attack deployed email messages that used hijacked text and graphics from the real financial institution. The message looks like a notification message about the recipient’s account. It is non-personalized and bear a similarity to the way legitimate notifications are sent.

An alternative distribution tactic is the use of direct text messages to the target users. It reads that the victim’s account has been suspended and in order to reactive it they need to visit an address. The included one is clearly not part of any of the TSB’s domains which is an easy way to spot the scam.

An analysis of the malicious domain shows that it contains a valid SSL certificate along with a design that bears a very strong resemblance to the real TSB login page. Practically the only difference between the real and the fake site is the URL. This example proves that looking for a valid SSL certificate is not enough to guard against potential scams.

According to the security investigation the fraud operators are using special software tools that allow them to change the sender ID for each message which makes it look like the financial institution is sending out the messages. An important characteristic is that the spoofed messages will be added to existing TSB threads on the victim’s devices. The primary motivation for the creation of these messages is to hijack the mobile/online banking credentials.

One of the primary reasons for the success and proliferation of the TBS phishing scam is the fact that it coincided with technical issues that the company was experiencing. For several weeks before the email messages spiked many customers reported having problems with logging in and performing certain transactions. This was used by the hackers in order to help devise the campaign.

TSB and Action Fraud posted a warning to Internet users when encountering such schemes which includes a notice of some of the good security practices:

• Don’t assume an email or text is authentic — Internet users should be cautious at all times, even when the messages seem to be sent by a trusted sender. Phone numbers, email messages and content can be easily spoofed. Never give out sensitive data via web or telephone unless this has been confirmed via a call from a legitimate representative.
• Interacting with links and files — Users should not interact with links or interactive content, especially in unexpected messages. Banks will never contact customers directly and ask for their credentials.
• Report Scams — Potential scams are to be reported to the companies so that they can publish warnings in due time.

A notification page has been set up for TSB customers where they can learn more about the ongoing phishing campaigns.

TSB Phishing Scam — Possible Development

As the TSB phishing attack is ongoing there are several other delivery techniques that the hackers can utilize in order to increase the infection ratio. The first one is the creation of additional phishing sites. They will typically use similar domain names to TSB and include strings like “account”, “login”, “service” and “recovery” in order to fool users into interacting with them.

Another technique would be to use browser hijackers — malicious web browser plugins that are usually distributed on the associated repositories. They use elaborate descriptions along with fake developer credentials and user reviews in an attempt to coerce the victims into installing them. When they include online banking elements the hackers can integrate the TSB phishing scam notifications directly in them.

To make matters worse criminals can use malicious web scripts that can redirect the victims to the phishing scam. This is done using pop-ups, banners, scripts and in-line hyperlinks. What’s more dangerous is the fact that using advertising or affiliate networks the threat can reach legitimate and well-known sites as well. In recent years a popular scheme remains the creation of countefeit social media accounts that can be customized in order to look like the legitimate institution. All popular social networks are targeted: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and etc.

Remove TSB Phishing Scam from Your Computer

In order to make sure that the “TSB Phishing Scam” scam is fully gone from your computer, we recommend that you follow the removal instructions underneath this article. They have been divided in manual and automatic removal manuals so that they can help you delete this threat based on your malware removal experience. If manual removal is not exactly something that you feel confident in doing, recommendations are to remove this malware or check if it has your infected your computer automatically by downloading and scanning your computer via an advanced anti-malware program. Such software will effectively make sure that your PC is fully secured and you passwords and data remain safe in the future.

Note! Your computer system may be affected by TSB Phishing or other threats.
Scan Your PC with SpyHunter
SpyHunter is a powerful malware removal tool designed to help users with in-depth system security analysis, detection and removal of threats such as TSB Phishing.
Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.

To remove TSB Phishing follow these steps:

1. Uninstall malicious programs from Windows

OFFER

Manual Removal Usually Takes Time and You Risk Damaging Your Files If Not Careful!

We Recommend To Scan Your PC with SpyHunter

Keep in mind, that SpyHunter’s scanner is only for malware detection. If SpyHunter detects malware on your PC, you will need to purchase SpyHunter’s malware removal tool to remove the malware threats. Read our SpyHunter 5 review. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria

How to Uninstall malicious programs from Windows:

Here is a method in few easy steps that should be able to uninstall most programs. No matter if you are using Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP, those steps will get the job done. Dragging the program or its folder to the recycle bin can be a very bad decision. If you do that, bits and pieces of the program are left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, errors with the file type associations and other unpleasant activities. The proper way to get a program off your computer is to Uninstall it. To do that:

Hold the Windows Logo Button and “R” on your keyboard. A Pop-up window will appear (fig.1).

In the field type in “appwiz.cpl” and press ENTER (fig.2).

This will open a window with all the programs installed on the PC.
Select the program that you want to remove, and press “Uninstall” (fig.3).

Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall most programs.

2. Clean your Browser and Registry from TSB Phishing

Remove TSB Phishing by cleaning your Browser and Registry.

Remove an extension from Mozilla FirefoxRemove an extension from Google Chrome Remove an extension from Internet Explorer Remove an extension from Microsoft Edge Fix registry entries created by TSB Phishing on your PC.

Start Mozilla Firefox. Open the menu window

Select the “Add-ons” icon from the menu.

Select the unwanted extension and click “Remove“

After the extension is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red “X” button at the top right corner and start it again.

Start Google Chrome and open the drop menu

Move the cursor over “Tools” and then from the extended menu choose “Extensions“

From the opened “Extensions” menu locate the unwanted extension and click on its “Remove” button.

After the extension is removed, restart Google Chrome by closing it from the red “X” button at the top right corner and start it again.

Start Internet Explorer:

Click on the gear icon labeled ‘Tools’ to open the drop menu and select ‘Manage Add-ons’

In the ‘Manage Add-ons’ window.

Select the extension you want to remove and then click ‘Disable’. A pop-up window will appear to inform you that you are about to disable the selected extension, and some more add-ons might be disabled as well. Leave all the boxes checked, and click ‘Disable’.

After the unwanted extension has been removed, restart Internet Explorer by closing it from the red ‘X’ button located at the top right corner and start it again.

Start Edge

Open the drop menu by clicking on the icon at the top right corner.

From the drop menu select “Extensions”.

Choose the suspected malicious extension you want to remove and then click on the gear icon.

Remove the malicious extension by scrolling down and then clicking on Uninstall.

Some malicious scripts may modify the registry entries on your computer to change different settings. This is why cleaning your Windows Registry Database is recommended. Since the tutorial on how to do this is a bit long and tampering with registries could damage your computer if not done properly you should refer and follow our instructive article about fixing registry entries, especially if you are unexperienced in that area.

Use SpyHunter to scan for malware and unwanted programs

3. Scan for malware and unwanted programs with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

Scan your PC and Remove TSB Phishing with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool and back up your data

1. Install SpyHunter to scan for TSB Phishing and remove them.2. Scan with SpyHunter, Detect and Remove TSB Phishing. Back up your data to secure it from malware in the future.

Step 1: Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.

Download

Malware Removal Tool

It is recommended to run a scan before purchasing the full version of the software to make sure that the current version of the malware can be detected by SpyHunter. Click on the corresponding links to check SpyHunter’s EULA, Privacy Policy and Threat Assessment Criteria.

Step 2: Guide yourself by the download instructions provided for each browser.

Step 3: After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to update automatically.

Step 1: After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Malware/PC Scan’ tab. A new window will appear. Click on ‘Start Scan’.

Step 2: After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any files of the associated threat and found them, you can try to get them removed automatically and permanently by clicking on the ‘Next’ button.

Step 3: If any threats have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart your PC.

Back up your data to secure it against attacks in the future

IMPORTANT! Before reading the Windows backup instructions, we highly recommend to back up your data with a cloud backup solution and insure your files against any type of loss, even from the most severe threats. We recommend you to read more about it and to download SOS Online Backup .

SOS Online Backup

Martin Beltov

Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me:

Martin Beltov

Martin graduated with a degree in Publishing from Sofia University. As a cyber security enthusiast he enjoys writing about the latest threats and mechanisms of intrusion.

More Posts - Website

Follow Me: