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Alerts > Phishing Scams

Phishing attacks use 'spoofed' e-mails and fraudulent websites designed to fool recipients into divulging personal financial data such as credit card numbers, account usernames and passwords, social security numbers, etc. By hijacking the trusted brands of well-known banks, online retailers and credit card companies, phishers are able to convince up to 5% of recipients to respond to them.

(from www.antiphishing.org)

The number and sophistication of phishing scams sent out to consumers is continuing to increase dramatically. While online banking and e-commerce is very safe, as a general rule you should be careful about giving out your personal financial information over the Internet. The Anti-Phishing Working Group has compiled a list of recommendations below that you can use to avoid becoming a victim of these scams.

• Be suspicious of any email with urgent requests for personal financial information
- unless the email is digitally signed, you can't be sure it wasn't forged or 'spoofed'
- phishers typically include upsetting or exciting (but false) statements in their emails to get people to react immediately
- they typically ask for information such as usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, social security numbers, etc.
- phisher emails are typically NOT personalized, while valid messages from your bank or e-commerce company generally are

• Don't use the links in an email to get to any web page, if you suspect the message might not be authentic
- instead, call the company on the telephone, or log onto the website directly by typing in the Web address in your browser

• Avoid filling out forms in email messages that ask for personal financial information
- you should only communicate information such as credit card numbers or account information via a secure website or the telephone

• Always ensure that you're using a secure website when submitting credit card or other sensitive information via your Web browser
- to make sure you're on a secure Web server, check the beginning of the Web address in your browsers address bar - it should be "https://" rather than just "http://"

• Regularly log into your online accounts
- don't leave it for as long as a month before you check each account

• Regularly check your bank, credit and debit card satements to ensure that all transactions are legitimate
- if anything is suspicious, contact your bank and all card issuers

• Ensure that your browser is up to date and security patches applied
- in particular, people who use the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser should immediately go to the Microsoft Security home page -- www.microsoft.com/security -- to download a special patch relating to certain phishing schemes

• Always report "phishing" or “spoofed” e-mails to the following groups:
- forward the email to reportphishing@antiphishing.com
- forward the email to the Federal Trade Commission at uce@ftc.gov
- forward the email to the "abuse" email address at the company that is being spoofed (e.g. "spoof@ebay.com")
- when forwarding spoofed messages, always include the entire original email with its original header information intact
- notify the Internet Fraud Complaint Center of the FBI by filing a complaint on their website: www.ifccfbi.gov/cf1.asp

www.antiphishing.org

What To Do If You've Given Out Your Personal Financial Information

Dear valued member of PayPal.

We recently reviewed your account, and suspect that your PayPal account may have been accessed by an unauthorized third party. Protecting the security of your account and of the PayPal network is our primary concern. Therefore, as a preventative measure, we have temporarily limited access to sensitive PayPal account features. To restore your account access, please take the following steps to ensure that your account has not been compromised: 1. Login follow our secure site and update all necesary information to your acount 2. Review your recent account history for any unauthorized payments sent or received, and check your account profile to make sure not changes have been made. To get started, please go directly to www.paypal.com and log in to your PayPal account. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and ppreciate your assistance in helping us maintain the integrity of the entire PayPal system. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,
The PayPal Team

Please do not reply to this e-mail. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account and choose the "Help" link in the header of any page. www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_login-run Monthly Account Statements PayPal Monthly Account Statements is a new feature that allows you to view, print, and download an easy-to-read statement that includes the following information:

**Payments received
**Payments sent
**Fees paid
**Other completed debits and credits

Make reconciliation and tax preparation easy with PayPal Monthly Account Statements . This PayPal notification was sent because you chose to receive Auction Seller Tips. To modify your notification preferences, go to www.paypal.com/PREFS-NOTI and log in to your account. Changes may take several days to be reflected in our mailings. Replies to this email will not be processed.Please do not reply to this e-mail. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account and choose the "Help" link in the footer of any page. To receive email notifications in plain text instead of HTML, update your preferences here. Copyright© 2004, PayPal Inc., All rights reserved. Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.

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For more information about how to protect yourself, see our Fact Sheet 17a Identity Theft: What to do if It Happens to You at www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs17a.htm.

Read the information and tips put out by the Federal Trade Commission about phishing at
www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/phishingalrt.htm.

Read the Department of Justice's recent whitepaper "Special Report on Phishing" at
www.antiphishing.org/DOJ_Special_Report_On_Phishing_Mar04.pdf

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