- The FDIC has issued Consumer Alerts
concerning recent exponential growth in a scam known as "phishing".
- This "fishing for confidential information" is a scam that attempts to fraudulently use your personal or financial
information obtained through e-mail or pop-up messages claiming to have been sent from:
- Your bank,
- Your credit card company,
- A Government Agency (like the FDIC),
- Microsoft,
- Verizon,
- E-bay,
- PayPal,
- Other institutions that already have your personal data.
- A bogus e-mail or pop-up asks you to click a link to "verify" or "re-submit" personal information at the institution's web site, when, in fact, the link
directs you to the scammer's look-alike copy of the web site.
- Entering information at the fraudulent web site can result in theft from your account(s) and/or
theft of your identity, e.g. criminals pretending to
be you to obtain credit cards in your name.
- Scammers have posted "phishing kits" on the Internet to spread the use of this fraudulent technique.
Don't let it be you....
- NEVER click a link in an e-mail message asking for personal information, even if you are warned that you will be charged if you don't respond.
- NEVER open any attachments in suspicious e-mail messages.
Just delete them immediately.
- Contact the institution by telephone to verify the legitimacy of a suspicious e-mail request for information.
Reputable companies and institutions NEVER ask you to verify confidential information via e-mail.
- Test your knowledge! Take the short
Phishing Basics Online Quiz from Microsoft.
- For additional tips, see OnGuardOnline's "How Not to Get Hooked by a Phishing Scam".
- State of Delaware Attorney General's Office IDentity Theft information,
including steps to take if you are a victim of identity theft.
- Additional Identity Theft Links
Computer Security at UD
News & Alerts
Reporting Incidents
Accessing UD Systems
UD Security Tool Chest
UD Security Home
|
