Look-alike e-mail scams on the rise (This is on MSNBC.com -- I have no idea if it will work after July 21.)
THE E-MAIL MAY HAVE A FEW corporate logos and links back to the real company site. It may even urge recipients to click on a link which looks authentic. But the link really sends the victim to a criminal’s Web page, and a few clicks later, the victim’s personal data has slipped into the hands of an identity thief.It’s called “phishing,” and while it’s been around for years, authorities say there’s been a huge spike in these crimes of late, so large a spike that it’s drawn the attention of federal authorities. The FBI, Federal Trade Commission, the National Consumers League and Earthlink held a joint press conference in Washington on Monday to call attention to the problem.
“This is the hot new fad amongst online con artists trying to pry money out of people’s wallets,” said FBI spokesman Bill Murray. “The first line of defense is with the consumer. The consumer has to be savvy.”
This is the first actual mainstream news story I've noticed about this particular scam. I've gotten lots and lots of these emails over the last year or two -- mostly asking for PayPal information. I never knew it was called phishing, though. Catchy name.
The FTC actually has a website devoted to identity theft: ways to avoid it, what to do if you're ripped off, other stuff. It's worth the refresher course if you know this stuff, but it's definitely a must-see if identity theft is new concept to you.
Posted by Lee at July 21, 2003 05:18 PM | TrackBack