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Phishing For Info
Filed under: Personal Finance, School Age, Young Adults, Adults, Retirees
Scam artists are always trying to find the pot of gold. Unfortunately, it’s your pot of gold they’re looking for. To guard against identity theft from a scam known as phishing, beware of official looking emails instructing you to follow a link to verify your account information. They may say there has been a security breach or they found a slight error in your billing information or some other story and that you need to follow their instructions to protect your account information. In reality, the “spoof” email is an attempt to discover your account information. Earthmover, PayPal, eBay, or any financial institution will not email you to verify your information. We have your information and we want to protect it. If you receive an email requesting account numbers, PINs, passwords, or other confidential information do not follow the instructions in the email. Call, email, or contact the sender the same way you always get in touch with them to ask them about the situation. eBay’s website, for example, asks you to forward the email to their Trust and Safety Department so they can report the incident to the proper authorities. Avoid becoming the next victim of identity theft by protecting your credit card numbers and expiration dates, social security number, account numbers, PINs, user IDs, and passwords.
