FINRA Alerts Firms to Phishing Email From “FINRA Support” From the Domain Name “westour.org”

Summary

FINRA warns member firms of an ongoing phishing campaign that involves fraudulent emails (see sample in Appendix) purporting to be from “FINRA SUPPORT” with the email address “[email protected]”. The email asks the recipient to pay attention “to the report attached below that requires your immediate response” and states that “[t]he attachment contains our updated Public Policy information.” The emails may not include an attachment.

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 domain of “westour.org” is not connected to FINRA and firms should delete all emails originating from this domain name.

FINRA reminds firms to verify the legitimacy of any suspicious email prior to responding to it, opening any attachments or clicking on any embedded links.

FINRA has requested that the Internet domain registrar suspend services for "westour.org".

For more information, firms should review the resources provided on FINRA’s Cybersecurity Topic Page, including the Phishing section of our Report on Cybersecurity Practices - 2018.

Questions regarding this Notice should be directed to:

• Dave Kelley, Director, Member Supervision Specialist Programs, at (816) 802-4729 or by email; or
• Greg Markovich, Senior Principal Risk Specialist, Member Supervision Specialist Programs, at (312) 899-4604 or by email.

Appendix