StopScum

The emails typically contain a request for your personal financial data and a link to visit Ebay, numerous banks, PayPal, brokerage accounts, and other financial firms. They often look very legitimate and so does the web site. Click here to see a more detailed list of the various types of Phishing attacks. Unfortunately, many folks submit this data to the fraudulent web site and then the criminals steal their identity. They use this data to purchase goods and or services with your Credit Card, obtain birth certificates, obtain social security numbers, obtain drivers license, and other damaging techniques.

How do you avoid this trap?

It's very simple, NEVER respond to these emails. NEVER click on a link inside one of these emails. Ignore them and send them to the trash.

Additional precautions:

If you are visiting a site, we suggest you type the URL into your browser and then bookmark the site. We never release our personal financial information to any party who calls us on the phone. If we think the request is valid, we will use our phone number from our records to call the party back. We don't do business with any firm who request this kind of data via email and or the phone.

If you have the time, we suggest you report these Phishing attacks to the Anti-Phishing Working Group. What do you do if you have given out your personal financial information? Visit this page for outstanding advice. Unfortunately, our undercover research indicates that Phishing attacks will continue to increase and the criminals will use new techniques to fool you. Expect to see fraudulent ecommerce sites, fraudulent escrow companies, downloads that grab your data, criminals advertising in major Search Engines, and using the US mail to request your data.