Phishing Scams for Identity Theft Rising at Fast Pace

According to Arkansas (USA) based Fayetteville Police Department, there has been a tremendous increase in e-mail scams to commit identity theft over the past few years. What's more, new scam artists are appearing much faster than ever before.

Joel Massey, Detective at the Fayetteville Police Department, states that nearly all end-users must have received some form of e-mail that claims they are winners of a worldwide lottery game, or sometime an e-mail that says the sender is in a foreign country and he needs help to transmit a huge sum of money to the United States, as reported by THE ELK VALLEY TIMES on January 19, 2009.

Moreover, the latest online scam discovered by the Fayetteville Police Department is one that tells recipients of a temporary suspension of their bank account. The e-mail warns the recipients that account could only be reactivated if they click on a given link to confirm personal details.

While online scams that talk of big inheritances or lottery prizes are widespread, people must understand that these should be avoided as well as not be replied with money transfers sought as processing fees for making the claims. In reality, officials state that if the e-mail is genuine, then the sender should never request the recipient for advance money.

However, the police department's officials state these kinds of phishing scams are few instances that phishers design to steal account information and personal details of users.

Police officials warn people that never give out their name, birth date, bank account number, social security number, or similar details over e-mail or phone to anyone whom they are not in touch directly. If the person seeking such personal information is someone with whom the user does business regularly, then he would already be having the required information.

Police officials further suggested that if a person falls victim to a phishing crime that culminates into identity theft, he or she should get in touch with the legitimate authorities, and also lodge a complaint with his or her area police department.

Related article: Phishing With A Redirector Code

» SPAMfighter News - 1/31/2009