Warnings

“Don’t Get Phished”

Internet phishing scams are one of the fastest growing frauds today.  Phishing typically involved a bogus e-mail message that uses legitimate materials, such as a company Web site graphics and logos, to try to entice e-mail recipients into providing personal financial details, such as credit card, debit card and Social Security numbers.

Financial institutions, government agencies, retailers, credit card companies and many other organizations have seen their Web site graphics “borrowed” by fraudsters for official-looking but fake e-mails aimed at tricking you out of personal financial information.  Here’s how you can keep your guard up, and help fight back against this form of fraud.

How to Protect Yourself

• Never respond to an unsolicited e-mail that asks for detailed financial information.
• When submitting financial information to a Web site, look for the padlock key icon in your browser and make sure the intended address begins with “https.”
• Check your credit card and bank account statement regularly and report a discrepancies immediately.
• Report anything suspicious to the proper authorities.  Alert the company or government agency identified in the suspect e-mail through a Web address or telephone number that you know is legitimate.
• Contact the Internet Crime Compliant Center at www.ic3.gov – a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center – if you think you have received a phishing e-mail or have been directed to a “phishy-looking” Web site.

Stop, Look and Call

The Department of Justice advises e-mail users to “stop, look and call if they receive a suspicious e-mail.

• Stop.  Resist the urge to immediately respond to a suspicious e-mail – and to provide the information requested – despite urgent or exaggerated claims.
• Look.  Read the text of the e-mail several times and ask yourself why the information requested would really be needed.
• Call.  Telephone the organization identified, using a number that you know to be legitimate (taken from a phone book, for example).

If You Have Been Phished…

If you believe you have been scammed into providing sensitive financial information, you should:

• Immediately contact your financial institution.
• Contact these three major credit bureaus and request that a fraud alert be placed on your credit report:  Equifax, 1-800-525-6285; Experian, 1-888-397-3742; and TransUnion, 1-800-680-7289.
• File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov or 1-877-382-4357, or the Anti-Phishing Work Group at www.antiphishing.org.