phishing

what is phishing?
Identity theft is everywhere including the Internet. An online scam called phishing is being used to commit identity theft. An official looking (but fake) e-mail is sent out in an attempt to get users to surrender private information.

The e-mail will arrive in your inbox saying something like "your account needs updating", "verification required" and others. The e-mail will direct you to a website which is not legitimate even if it looks like it and you will be prompted to enter personal information. Once this information has been entered the thieves use this information and empty the accounts.

This is serious stuff folks these people will steal your money, run up your credit cards, have documents issued to them ( passports, birth certificates etc.) They will ruin your credit rating and possibly other illegal activities.

These identity thieves are getting very good at what they do and it is getting harder to tell if the e-mail is real or not. The only thing we have going for us is the fact that your bank, credit card company or government office will never ask you for this information in an e-mail.

So if you ever receive an e-mail asking for this information NEVER respond and delete it immediately.