Orono Area Neighborhood Alert 9/20/04 Phishing

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Beware of "Phishing" Scams to
Obtain Personal Information Via the Internet

A number of Orono residents have experienced the latest in internet scams--"Phishing". The term "phishing" refers to the act of sending an email to an internet user falsely claiming to be a legitimate company (usually well known) in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information.

The email directs the user to click on a link to a Web site that can look absolutely identical to the legitimate company's site and asks them to update personal information such as credit card numbers, bank account numbers, Social Security number, passwords and other confidential identity data. The Web site, however, is bogus and set up only to steal the user's personal information.

The common thread to the phishing scam emails is nearly always a sense of urgency—they will include statements like "You still have time to prevent your credit report from being forwarded to . . ." or "Your account has been frozen". In general, real companies do not communicate urgent date-critical information via email.

Even if you are already web savvy enough to know not to provide requested private information, you can still get caught by simply clicking on the link embedded within the email, thinking this will only take you to a web site to view. Instead, it may secretly install software on your computer that records everything you type, including user ids, passwords and account information. This info can be retrieved by the thieves, or is sometimes programmed to automatically be forwarded to them.

While phishing has been around since at least the mid-90's, it has become extremely common at this point, and continues to become more sophisticated, enough so to fool even the most wary internet user. Currently it is possible for the criminals to place a fake URL (internet address) on top of the actual one on your monitor, so that even if you see a legitimate address, it may be concealing a fraudulant one beneath.

You can help protect yourself from this scam by following these tips, which were developed by the Federal Trade Commission:

If you receive an email that warns you, with little or no notice, that an account of yours will be shut down unless you update your account information, do not reply or click on the link in the email. Instead, contact the company cited in the email by the Web site address or telephone number that you know to be genuine.
If you unknowingly supplied personal or financial information, contact your bank and credit card company immediately.
Suspicious email can be forwarded to uce@ftc.gov, and complaints should be filed with your state attorney general's office or through the FTC at www.ftc.gov.