Identity Theft and Phishing
A recent study estimates that Identity Theft will victimize more than ten million Americans this year! Don't let it happen to you.
Unfortunately, phishing is now a well-established approach to ID theft. It occurs when a perpetrator posing as a legitimate financial organization uses email to retrieve personal and financial data.
Pharming occurs when an email purporting to be from a known organization carries a computer virus that infects a victim's computer in one of two ways. One sends the victim, who types in a legitimate domain name, to a bogus site. The other records keystroke information and transmits it to a criminal who then uses the data to access the account.
Some suggestions on how to avoid becoming a victim of phishing or pharming:
- Never click on links in email text
- Be suspicious of any email that does not end with a .com domain name
- Ensure that the web site is secure
- Update Internet browsers and Windows operating systems
- Never act upon any email or pop-up ad that asks for personal or financial information
- Review bank and credit card statements immediately
- Report suspicious activity to your bank
- Report suspicious activity to the Federal Trade Commission
This problem is not going away, nor is there any foolproof solution for it. If you have any doubts whatsoever, contact us immediately.
We will never ask for your personal information in any email we send.
