E-MAIL and ONLINE FRAUD

The most common types of e-mail fraud include e-mail messages sent to you for the purpose of stealing personal and financial information.

These e-mails claim to be from legitimate sources and will try to entice you to give personal and confidential information such as on-line ID’s, passwords, Social Security numbers and bank account numbers

This activity is also known as “PHISHING” or “SPOOFING”. Criminals use this type of e-mail fraud to gain access to your existing accounts or to open new accounts.

Fraudulent e-mails are very difficult to identify. These messages will ask you to reply directly to the e-mail or ask you to link to a phony Web site that appears identical to a legitimate site. Then they will ask you for personal or financial information.

You can identify fraudulent e-mails by looking for the following:

• Immediate requests These e-mails will ask for an immediate response. For example, the message may tell you your account will be closed if you fail to confirm, verify or authenticate your personal information immediately
• Typos or grammatical errors. Fraudulent e-mails or Web sites may contain typos or grammatical errors. The writing may also be awkward, stilted or inappropriate. The visual or design quality may be poor.

To get more information on E-mail and Online Fraud, go to one of the following Web sites:

How Not to Get Hooked by the ‘Phishing’ Scam,” http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/phishingalrt.htm

“Take Charge: Fighting Back Against Identity Theft”, http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/idtheft.htm

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
www.consumer.gov/idtheft
Toll-free hotline 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338).

Equifax
www.equifax.com
1-888-766-0008

Experian
www.experian.com
1-888-397-3742

TransUnion
www.tuc.com 
1-800-680-7289