Identity Theft – Email Scams

You get them every day… emails that look official, asking you to “click here” and login to your account. Don’t do it. Legitimate corporations NEVER ask you to do this. They may send you email that informs you of things you need to know. But they will never provide a link from the email directly into a login page. Instead, they will ask you to go to a browser and visit their website directly from the Internet, not by clicking on a link in an email.

The article shown below comes from http://www.privacyrights.org and contains helpful information:

Beware of spam (unsolicited e-mail messages) that asks for your SSN  or other personal information. Many people receive e-mail messages that appear to be from their Internet Service Provider, (for example AOL or Yahoo), from a government agency like the Internal Revenue Service, from a bank, Amazon, eBay, or PayPal. The message typically  says that the company or agency is updating its records or has detected fraudulent activity with your account and needs personal information from you, such as your Social Security number, account number, password, mother’s maiden name, and so on. It may direct you to an official-looking Web site through a link contained in the message.

Do not respond to such messages! These are called “phishing” scams. Although they appear to be legitimate, these messages and Web sites are scams to get your personal information. No reputable company or government agency sends e-mail messages asking for sensitive personal data. For more information, visit the following Web site: http://www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com.