FIRNA sounds alarm over email phishing scam

The US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) stated that fake emails purporting to be from this wall street regulator have been sent to thousands of potential market participants around the world.

In a notice posted on its website, FINRA said it "warns member firms of an ongoing phishing campaign that involves fraudulent emails that include the domain "@invest-finra.org". FINRA recommends that anyone who clicked on any link or image in the email immediately notify the appropriate individuals in their firm of the incident.”

The Wall Street's industry-funded watchdog has requested that the internet domain registrar suspend services for "invest-finra.org", adding that it advised firms to delete all emails originating from this source.

Over the last few months, the FINRA has repeatedly warned financial services firms of tricky new phishing campaigns that mimic a message from the nongovernmental organization.

Typically, the fraudsters use special software to make the message appear genuine. Recipients are often invited to click on a link that appears to take them to the watchdog's website. Instead, they go to a false website that tries to steal sensitive information from those targeted, which can be used later without their knowledge to commit fraud.