Capital One Customers Stay Cautious of Latest Phishing Scam

The Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs in Virginia is alerting consumers to be cautious of the latest phishing e-mail scam, which purports to be a warning from Capital One, a financial institution based in Virginia.

The fraudulent phishing e-mail states that the accounts of customers may have been accessed from an illegal PC. They are further directed to click on a link given in the e-mail to check their account activity.

However, on clicking the URL link, user is directed to a website form that seems legitimate, but not connected with Capital One. The form asks users to confer their personal information, including name, date of birth, address, signature panel code, mother's maiden name, credit card number and social security number.

According to the security experts, user who provides these details is at a higher risk of identity theft as all that information is forwarded to a remote scammer.

Authorities at Capital One advised that users must strictly avoid responding to the pop-ups or e-mails asking for their personal and financial details. Also, in no case, the link given in such e-mails should be clicked. Users should always remember that legitimate firms don't ask for personal details through e-mails.

However, to verify their account activities, users should contact the company by using a genuine telephone number. They can also type in the correct address of the website in a new internet browser session.

Users are recommended to protect their systems by firewall as well as anti-spyware and anti-virus applications and update them regularly. phishing e-mails contain certain software that can prove harmful to the PC or can keep a record of all the user activities over internet, without their concern. In such cases, a firewall and anti-virus software prove their worth as they protect users from unknowingly accepting the malicious files.

Moreover, the firm recommends that if any user thinks that he has got a phishing e-mail, purportedly from Capital One, he should instantly forward the doubtful message to the site "abuse@capitalone.com".

Nonetheless, if a user feels that he has been defrauded, he should file an official complaint with ftc.gov. The victim should then visit the identity theft website of FTC dubbed "ftc.gov/idtheft".

» SPAMfighter News - 12/11/2008