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3
Pervasive Phishing Scams
by Matthew C. Keegan
Scams
involving email continue to plague consumers
across America, indeed the world. These
so called "phishing" scams involve
"spoofed" emails meant to draw
the unwary to bogus internet sites masquerading
as legitimate sites. These scam artists
-- phishers -- attempt to hook visitors
in by having them divulge certain critical
and personal bits of information. Once
the information has been divulged the
phishers start their dirty work and you
have been conned. Several phishing scams
continue to persist, the following are
three of the most pervasive ones.
1.
Financial Institutions. It is highly likely
that you have already received this type
of notice which appears to have come from
your financial institution. It goes something
like this:<blockquote>We are glad
to inform you, that our bank has a new
security system. The new updated technology
will ensure the security of your payments
through our bank. Hoping you understand
that we are doing this for your own safety,
we suggest you to update your account
, this update will maintain the safety
of your account. All you have to do is
complete our online secured form. Thank
you .</blockquote>
Comment:
No financial institution will require
you to respond to an email asking you
to update your account. In addition, I
left in the typos, punctuation errors,
and overall poorly worded request just
as it is. Finally, many of these scams
do not go to account holders as the phishers
spam email accounts in the hope that someone
will take the bait.
2.
Paypal Account. This scam is giving Paypal/eBay
fits as its says that billing information
must be updated by you, the recipient
of the notice. Verbiage is included whereby
"Paypal" threatens to close
your account if you do not respond, money
will be withheld, etc.
Comment:
The first time I saw this note, I thought:
huh?! The nerve of Paypal! However, I
forwarded the letter to Paypal who confirmed
its scammy nature.
3.
ISP Fraud. An internet service provider
has seen a number of "their"
letters surface in emails around the US.
A common request goes something like this:<blockquote>
Dear Comcast customer,
We
recently attempted to charge your account
but we seem to receive an error when charging
your card. This sometimes occurs for a
variety of reasons including card expiration,
over limit, suspicion of fraud, or several
other technical difficulties. Please visit
the Comcast Service Center, by clicking
on the hyperlink shown below, and update
your information so this issue can be
resolved.
Comcast
Service Center
Thank
you,
Chris
Hammonds
Comcast
Service Department
Comment:
Another request to obtain valuable information
belonging to you. I have seen 3-4 variations
of this letter, all allegedly from Comcast.
Oftentimes,
phishers will go to great lengths to copy
the company's logo and other pertinent
information and include that within the
email. Almost without fail they provide
a link for you to click on so that you
will go to a site thinking that it is
legitimate.
Once
at the scam site, all kinds of questions
will be asked of you including: social
security number, credit card information,
your address, and more. The more information
you give, the easier it will be for you
to become a victim of identity theft as
the perpetrators assume your identity
and open up multiple accounts in your
name.
Usually
the consumer knows nothing of the scam
until they receive letters demanding payment
for accounts opened up in their name,
calls from creditors, and rejected credit
applications because of assumed bad credit.
The
best defense, of course, is to not respond
to the email. However, you can play an
important part in stopping phishing fraud
by forwarding a copy of the message to
the company being mimicked. Their fraud
department will be grateful and you will
help them [as well as policing authorities]
in their quest to stop phishers in their
tracks.
Matt
Keegan is The
Article Writer covering topics as
from Aviation to Zoos.
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Email Fraud