Internet Scammers 'Phishing' For Your Identity
Spoof E-Mails Can Look Like Real Thing
POSTED: 5:53 PM EDT September 9, 2003
MIAMI -- Scammers are fishing for more victims on the Internet. They're tapping into a new way to get you to reveal all your personal information and then steal your identity.
Channel 10 Problem Solver Mark Schumacher and explains, and tells you how to avoid being the next victim.Part of Andrew Bern's late-night ritual is checking his e-mail."And one of the e-mails came from my Internet service provider, or I thought it did," Bern said.The e-mail told Bern they needed to verify his credit card information."I was sort of tired," Bern said. "I didn't want to put a stop to the e-mails I was getting. I went to the site that the hyperlink was there for and started filling out the information."But he says he felt uneasy about it."After completing it and sending it, I said, 'This looks very wrong.'"Andrew had fallen victim to "phishing" -- an Internet e-mail scam.Jeff Ostroff, with CarBuyingTips.com, said, "The reason people fall for this scam is, it looks so official." Ostroff, who specializes in Internet fraud, says the scammers copy everything right down to the finest detail."It's got all of the logos from the company," Ostroff said. "They copy everything the way you see it when you log in and they spoof the 'from' address so they make you think it really did come from the company."Once you hit "send," your identity will soon be lost along with your good credit.To avoid being landed by these fraud phishers, first delete and don't respond to suspicious e-mails -- but if you ever do give out sensitive information online, make sure you see either a padlock at the bottom of the screen or "https" in the address bar at the top of your browser; both the "s" and the lock mean the site is secure.Immediately after he realized he'd been snared, Bern alerted his e-mail server and his credit-card company."They immediately flagged my account to monitor it extra carefully," Bern said.The FBI says it can take up to 15 months for you to discover that your identity has been stolen in the first place. So one other suggestion is to call the three major credit bureaus and have a fraud alert put on your accounts if you think you might be a victim.
Channel 10 Problem Solver Mark Schumacher and explains, and tells you how to avoid being the next victim.Part of Andrew Bern's late-night ritual is checking his e-mail."And one of the e-mails came from my Internet service provider, or I thought it did," Bern said.The e-mail told Bern they needed to verify his credit card information."I was sort of tired," Bern said. "I didn't want to put a stop to the e-mails I was getting. I went to the site that the hyperlink was there for and started filling out the information."But he says he felt uneasy about it."After completing it and sending it, I said, 'This looks very wrong.'"Andrew had fallen victim to "phishing" -- an Internet e-mail scam.Jeff Ostroff, with CarBuyingTips.com, said, "The reason people fall for this scam is, it looks so official." Ostroff, who specializes in Internet fraud, says the scammers copy everything right down to the finest detail."It's got all of the logos from the company," Ostroff said. "They copy everything the way you see it when you log in and they spoof the 'from' address so they make you think it really did come from the company."Once you hit "send," your identity will soon be lost along with your good credit.To avoid being landed by these fraud phishers, first delete and don't respond to suspicious e-mails -- but if you ever do give out sensitive information online, make sure you see either a padlock at the bottom of the screen or "https" in the address bar at the top of your browser; both the "s" and the lock mean the site is secure.Immediately after he realized he'd been snared, Bern alerted his e-mail server and his credit-card company."They immediately flagged my account to monitor it extra carefully," Bern said.The FBI says it can take up to 15 months for you to discover that your identity has been stolen in the first place. So one other suggestion is to call the three major credit bureaus and have a fraud alert put on your accounts if you think you might be a victim.
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