Lee County Residents Warned of Phishing E-mail

Lee County (Florida, US) officials are warning the residents to be cautious of a new phishing scam currently making rounds on their inboxes. With reference to the details of this latest scam e-mail, the officials said that the unsolicited e-mail is being sent without considering who the person is or what his/her e-mail address is. Any one can receive this phishing e-mail.

The scam e-mail is titled as "Notification". According to the text of the e-mail, the user's access to online banking has been denied due to security issues. The e-mail further says that to protect user's account from unauthorized access, a limit of three unsuccessful attempts was set which the user has unfortunately crossed.

Scam e-mail asks the recipient to download and fill the attached restore form by opening it in a web browser. The e-mail text also contains instructions where the user is asked to click on a given link. This link will supposedly restore bank account of the recipient.

Moreover, officials who are working on the case said that no bank or financial institution ever sends such e-mails. A scammer has sent it to phish personal information.

Hence, the county officials warn the recipients not to provide their full name, debit/credit card number, date of expiry, PIN number and card verification number asked in the restore form.

Officials further said that people must first check for the authenticity of such an e-mail asking for their personal details, rather than blindly clicking on the malicious link and unnecessarily falling prey to the scam as phishing e-mails are specifically designed to steel a person's identity. They either direct the users to phony websites or phone numbers to call and provide personal details, or simply ask for these details in the e-mail itself.

As a bank or a financial institution never asks for customers' personal details via e-mail, this clearly indicates that such e-mails are purely fraudulent. Still, in case of any confusion, the officials have advised to call the Lee County Sheriff's Office Fraud Line Number: 239-477-1242, where the investigators are available to help the users.

Finally, it is evident through this case that Internet education is very important to counter attack or avoid falling for such scams.

Related article: Law Revamps Web Security After Denial Of Service Attack

» SPAMfighter News - 30-10-2009

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