Can't get Haliax Online Banking website

Halifax aka Bank of Scotland yep there sites are down

Not working here via NTL

Sorry, our service is currently unavailable We are committed to improving our service. To allow us to make these improvements, our service is temporarily unavailable. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. If you require any account information urgently, please call us on the numbers below.

clickable link just in case its a con. (It's always a con!) Eric

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It bloody well isnt you prat.

had the same thought so used my bookmark, it is down.

site.I must admit if you were scamming or phising its a bloody good way of doing it!

Well, thats the URL I allways use to log on to my Halifax Bank Accout.

Dosnt matter now, I phoned them up on the 08457 number. They have and they say they are upgrading the Online Banking systems and should be back up by 6am on Friday.

It appears to be back up now.

The point is you can't tell, and it's safer to be paranoid and type the URL yourself from memory, or use your own bookmark/homepage. No-one's calling you a criminal - calm down!

In message , Fred Bloggs writes

You CAN tell. If it's not posted in HTML then the link goes where it says it does. Even if it is posted in HTML, my newsreader tells me the true destination. Suspicion is good, paranoia is bad, mmmkay?

It's because they sent this email out today to all their customers and they've been swamped......

Dear customer We notice that you haven't used our online service recently.

If you're having trouble getting back online, you can reset all your security details by clicking on the 'forgotten your sign-in details?' link on the sign in page. Just in case you've forgotten your Username, here's a quick reminder ? you'll need this whenever you use the service: Your unique Username is: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx You can then enjoy a full range of services such as:-

• Check your balances - savings, bank accounts and credit cards

• Pay your household and credit card bills or transfer money between accounts

• Arrange and amend standing orders

• Order holiday money and much more... Win some cash! As a valued online customer, we also want to make sure you're aware of the great prize draws we're running at the moment (terms and conditions apply). To view the details just enter Halifax.co.uk/onlinedraws into your browser. There are two ways to win £250 cash. First, simply sign in to view your account - we will be drawing 10 lucky people every month for the rest of the year. There's no entry form to complete - you'll automatically qualify every month that you sign in! It couldn't be simpler! Secondly, we're repeating our online Bill Payment draw. Can you think of an easier way to pay your bills than online? We can't! Just pay three bills online between 1st September and 31st December 2004 and again you'll automatically qualify for a chance to win 1 of 40 £250 prizes. Your money is safe If a customer of our online service is a victim of fraud we guarantee that they won't lose any money on their Halifax account and will always be reimbursed in full.' Best regards

Halifax Online service

Filthy Rich Music House

[email message snipped]

Is sending out an email like that really a good idea with phishing being so rife at the moment?

Yes, but where does it say it goes? Is the US White House address

or for instance? Being able to read the URL doesn't tell you the answer. There's nothing to stop someone dodgy registering a URL similar to that of major banks etc.

If it's not plain text but is alterable in any way then you're back to trusting your browser or whatever, and there are various tricks to fool them. I've forgotten the details, but it's something like:

www.genuine_looking snipped-for-privacy@www.dodgyaddress.com.

Paranoia is also good sometimes.

This no-longer works, the ability to put http authentication information in the url is disabled in almost all the major UA's, and certainly IE.

Jim.

In message , Fred Bloggs writes

This is true. In this case, however, it was obviously the correct site. If, as someone has already mentioned, the alternative is to type it in from memory, they would know that it was the correct address. The issue was that the link might direct to somewhere completely different. Not possible in a plain text format.

Updates have stopped this happening IIRC. Though even with a holey browser that will allow that kind of URL, I would see exactly that URL at the bottom of my newsreader as I hovered over the link. I don't know if OE does this as I never use it. Only a buffoon would click such a munged URL.

Not when it prevails over common sense.

No, you are right. It was pretty irresponsible really....

Filthy Rich Music House

There are many, many buffoons out there, and for them the simplest, safest advice is don't click on URLs posted by people you don't know!

I don't agree that not clicking on URLs posted by people I don't know/trust is an example of paranoia prevailing over common sense though!

In message , Fred Bloggs writes

Kind of defeats the object of coming to Usenet for help if you're not prepared to follow the links that people provide to help you out! There is more than an element of truth in what you say though. Unfortunately a blanket "no click" policy will never work; it's like switching the lecky off permanently to stop the possibility of electric shock. Common sense has to be applied somewhere.

So you personally know the author of every hyperlink you have ever followed? Come on, you're just being stubborn and daft now. Dodgy links stick out like racing dog's bollox and if you can't see that then I fear you must be at the wrong end of the food chain.