Phishing Scams - How to Avoid Them... What to Do if You're a Victim
Sunday, April 13, 2008
What is Phishing?
Phishing attacks are 'spoofed' e-mails and fraudulent websites designed to fool recipients into divulging personal financial data such as credit card numbers, account usernames and passwords, social security numbers, etc. By hijacking the trusted brands of well-known banks, online retailers and credit card companies, phishers are able to convince up to 5% of recipients to respond to them.
How to Avoid Phishing Scams
- Be suspicious of any e-mails with requests for personal financial information
- Legitimate companies do not need to know your password
- Ensure that your browser is up to date and has the proper security patches applied
- Make sure you are using a secure website when submitting credit card or other sensitive information
- Log in to your online accounts frequently to make sure all transactions are legitimate
- Don't open e-mails you are not expecting, or ones that come from unknown e-mail addresses
- Don't use links in an e-mail to get to a web page if you suspect the message might not be authentic
- Periodically request your credit report from the bureaus listed below and review it for anything suspicious
- Threats to cancel or disable your account are strong indicators of a phishing attempt
- Beware of poor grammar in e-mails purporting to be from legitimate vendors
If Account Information is Stolen
- Report the theft of this information as soon as possible
- Cancel your account and open a new one
- Review monthly statements carefully after the loss
If Your Personal Identification Information is StolenReport the theft to the four major credit-reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax TransUnion and Innovis).
Equifax - www.equifax.com
To order your report:
Call (800) 685-1111
To report fraud:
Call (800) 525-6285
Hearing impaired:
Call (800) 255-0056
Experian - www.experian.com
To order your report or report fraud:
Call (888) 397-3742
TransUnion - www.transunion.com
To order your report:
Call (800) 888-4213
To report fraud:
Call (800) 680-7289
Innovis - www.innovis.com
To order your report:
(800) 540-2505
