NACHA scam makes rounds via e-mail with ACH transaction alert

Not-for-profit financial organization NACHA, which oversees an electronic payment system called the Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network, has issued an immediate release today in response to a surge in spam e-mails part of a phishing attack.

The release, posted to the official NACHA Web site, reads:

Random individuals and/or companies may have received a falsified e-mail with the subject title "Rejected ACH Transaction."  This e-mail appears to be from NACHA - The Electronic Payments Association telling them that there is a problem with an ACH transaction they have originated.  The e-mail includes a link which redirects the individual to a fake web page which appears like the NACHA website and contains a link which is almost certainly executable virus with malware.

Here is a sample e-mail:

----------

From: nacha.org [mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 10:25 AM

To: Doe, John

Subject: Rejected ACH transaction, please review the transaction report

Dear bank account holder,
The ACH transaction, recently initiated from your bank account, was rejected by the Electronic Payments Association. Please review the transaction report by clicking the link below:

Unauthorized ACH Transaction Report LINK

-----------

NACHA urges consumers to ignore these e-mails and not to click the link, which it says is likely associated with a virus.

Comments

[Jah14ya]

I work for a Audio/Video recording company out of Reno, NV and we have recently received this phishing spam through our main business mail account.

I linked to the false NACHA page which directs you to link to an .exe file in order to review this so-called "unathorized transaction". This is where I ceased to continue, however, due to the file extension given right on the hypertext link.

Not a very good phishing spam although I can see how others with less experience could have a more unfortunate result.

I guess the only advice I could give is to never trust any mail that you do not deal with on a day to day basis.