PHISHING

Internet phishing scams are one of the fastest growing frauds today.  Phishing typically involves a bogus email message that uses legitimate materials, such as bank or credit card company’s website graphics and logos in an attempt to trick the email recipients to provide personal financial details, such as account information, credit card, and Social Security numbers.

• Be suspicious of any email with urgent requests for personal financial information.
• Don’t use the links in an email 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 check your bank, credit and debit card statements 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 are applied.