The Latest Phishing Scams

As we move into the heart of the holiday season, criminals everywhere are kicking into high gear.
Don't be their next victim. Here is some help.

'Phishing' is a term that refers to the on-line imitation of a company's branding in spoofed e-mail messages and web sites, created with the intent of fooling unsuspecting users into divulging personal information such as passwords, credit card numbers, PINs, etc. A typical "phish" e-mail will appear to come from a financial institution (such as a bank or credit card company), informing the recipient that some type of problem has affected his account and directing him to follow a provided hyperlink to clear up the problem. The hyperlink leads not to a legimate site, however, but to a server (usually in another country) on which an imitation web site has been set up. The fooled customer is then prompted to enter confidential personal information collected by the scammers for perpetrating identify theft and (usually) redirected to a legitimate web site to obscure the fact that he just gave away data to crooks.

*Citibank E-mail claims your Citibank ATM/Debit card PIN must be updated due to "a large number of identity theft attempts."

*eBay E-mail claims auction site eBay is sending out suspension notices via e-mail and asking customers to verify their account information. E-mail claims auction site eBay is sending out notices requesting that users update their account information.

*FDIC E-mail claims the FDIC insurance on your bank account has been cancelled by the Department of Homeland Security for violations of the Patriot Act.

*IRS E-mail pretends to be the IRS sending out e-mails directing taxpayers to a web form to use to obtain tax refunds.

*U.S. Bank E-mail claims your account at U.S. Bank has been suspended. E-mail claims your account at U.S. Bank needs to be reactivated due to a technical update.

*SunTrust Bank E-mail claims SunTrust Bank is asking customers to verify their account details due to "a large number of identity theft attempts."

*Wells Fargo E-mail claims Wells Fargo is sending out e-mails requesting personal information as part of their "regular update and verification of the Wells Fargo ATM Service."

*Social Security Administration (SSA) E-mail claims the Social Security Administration is requiring benefits recipients to register for passwords and provide their banking information.

Source: Snopes