There's
a new type of Internet piracy called "phishing." It's pronounced
"fishing," and that's exactly what these thieves are doing:
"fishing" for your personal financial information. What they want
are account numbers, passwords, Social Security numbers, and other
confidential information that they can use to loot your checking
account or run up bills on your credit cards.
In the worst case, you could find yourself a
victim of identity theft. With the
sensitive information obtained from a successful phishing scam,
these thieves can take out loans or obtain credit cards and even
driver's licenses in your name. They can do damage to your
financial history and personal reputation that can take years to
unravel. But if you understand how phishing works and how to
protect yourself, you can help stop this crime.
Here's how phishing works:
In a typical case, you'll receive an e-mail
that appears to come from a reputable company that you recognize and
do business with, such as your financial institution. In some cases,
the e-mail may appear to come from a government agency, including
one of the federal financial institution regulatory agencies.
The e-mail will probably warn you of a serious
problem that requires your immediate attention. It may use phrases,
such as "Immediate attention required," or "Please contact us
immediately about your account." The e-mail will then encourage you
to click on a button to go to the institution's Web site.
In a phishing scam, you could be redirected to
a phony Web site that may look exactly like the real thing.
Sometimes, in fact, it may be the company's actual Web site. In
those cases, a pop-up window will quickly appear for the purpose of
harvesting your financial information.
In either case, you may be asked to update
your account information or to provide information for verification
purposes: your Social Security number, your account number, your
password, or the information you use to verify your identity when
speaking to a real financial institution, such as your mother's
maiden name or your place of birth.
If you provide the requested information,
you may find yourself the victim of identity theft.
How to Protect Yourself
Never provide your personal information in
response to an unsolicited request, whether it is over the phone
or over the Internet. E-mails and Internet pages created by phishers
may look exactly like the real thing. They may even have a fake
padlock icon that ordinarily is used to denote a secure site. If you
did not initiate the communication, you should not provide any
information.
If you believe the contact may be
legitimate, contact the financial institution yourself. You can
find phone numbers and Web sites on the monthly statements you
receive from your financial institution, or you can look the company
up in a phone book or on the Internet. The key is that you
should be the one to initiate the contact, using contact information
that you have verified yourself.
Never provide your password over the phone
or in response to an unsolicited Internet request. A financial
institution would never ask you to verify your account information
online. Thieves armed with this information and your account number
can help themselves to your savings.
Review account statements regularly to
ensure all charges are correct. If your account statement is
late in arriving, call your financial institution to find out why.
If your financial institution offers electronic account access,
periodically review activity online to catch suspicious activity.
Partial content used with permission from the
FDIC. For more information visit
www.consumer.gov/idtheft.
