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Phishing Scams
Don't Take the Bait!
What is Phishing?
Phishing is one of the latest cons used by high-tech criminals to facilitate
one of America's leading forms of fraud - identity theft. Basically,
the scam uses spam (unsolicited e-mail) to bait consumers into disclosing
sensitive personal information - such as social security numbers, account
and routing numbers, credit card numbers, personal identification numbers
(PINs), passwords, and other private data.
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), phishers send an email
or pop-up message that claims to be from a business or organization
that you deal with - for example, your Internet service provider (ISP),
bank, online payment service, or even a government agency. The message
usually says that you need to "update" or "validate"
your account information. It might threaten some dire consequence if
you don't respond. The message directs you to a Web site that looks
just like a legitimate organization's site, but it isn't. The purpose
of the bogus site? To trick you into divulging your personal information
so the operators can steal your identity and run up bills or commit
crimes in your name.
What can you do?
To avoid getting reeled into one of these scams, the FTC offers the
following guidance:
- If you get an email or pop-up message that asks for personal or
financial information, do not reply or click on the link in the message.
Legitimate companies don't ask for this information via email. If
you are concerned about your account, contact the organization in
the email using a telephone number you know to be genuine, or open
a new Internet browser session and type in the company's correct Web
address. In any case, don't cut and paste the link in the message.
- Don't email personal or financial information. Email is not a secure
method of transmitting personal information. If you initiate a transaction
and want to provide your personal or financial information through
an organization's Web site, look for indicators that the site is secure,
like a lock icon on the browser's status bar or a URL for a website
that begins "https:" (the "s" stands for "secure").
Unfortunately, no indicator is foolproof; some phishers have forged
security icons.
- Review credit card and bank account statements as soon as you receive
them to determine whether there are any unauthorized charges. If your
statement is late by more than a couple of days, call your credit
card company or bank to confirm your billing address and account balances.
- Use anti-virus software and keep it up to date. Some phishing emails
contain software that can harm your computer or track your activities
on the Internet without your knowledge. Anti-virus software and a
firewall can protect you from inadvertently accepting such unwanted
files. Anti-virus software scans incoming communications for troublesome
files. Look for anti-virus software that recognizes current viruses
as well as older ones; that can effectively reverse the damage; and
that updates automatically.A firewall helps make you invisible on
the Internet and blocks all communications from unauthorized sources.
It's especially important to run a firewall if you have a broadband
connection. Finally, your operating system (like Windows or Linux)
may offer free software "patches" to close holes in the
system that hackers or phishers could exploit.
- Be cautious about opening any attachment or downloading any files
from emails you receive, regardless of who sent them.
- Report suspicious activity to the FTC. If you get spam that is phishing
for information, forward it to spam@uce.gov.
If you believe you've been scammed, file your complaint at www.ftc.gov,
and then visit the FTC's Identity Theft Web site at www.consumer.gov/idtheft
to learn how to minimize your risk of damage from ID theft. Visit
www.ftc.gov/spam to
learn other ways to avoid email scams and deal with deceptive spam.
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and
unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information
to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint
or to get free information on consumer issues, visit www.ftc.gov
or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261.
The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related
complaints into Consumer
Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil
and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
As your financial institution, we at F&M Trust want to help you
combat identity theft. One of the best ways to fight fraud is to educate
yourself and be aware of a possible scam before it happens to you. Be
cautious when providing information, and learn the steps you can take
to help protect your sensitive, personal information in an attempt to
stay ahead of these criminals.
F&M Trust strongly recommends that you NOT send personal information
to the bank via e-mail. You are urged only to use secure locations on
our site (for example, online banking, online trust access, online investing,
etc.) to conduct transactions and change or update information. In addition,
customer service representatives of F&M Trust will NOT ask you to
send any private information to us via e-mail. If you are asked by someone
indicating that they represent F&M Trust, please contact our security
department immediately at 1-888-264-6116.
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