E-mail scams abound: BEWARE!

We live in the age of the Internet. It seems that it's hard to do any type of business without it. The Internet has, in a sense, made the world smaller and a lot easier to do business or to keep in touch with friends instantly without direct regard to time.

With the positives come negatives. This is where we all must have our eyes wide open: VERY WIDE. If you don't remember anything else, remember this: Common Sense and Gut Feeling. If something sounds i.e. reads fishy or to good to be true, well, it probably is. This is the point where scammers hook their mark.

How The Scams Work

A common email scam uses unsolicited email to deceive consumers into disclosing confidential personal information. The deceptive email suggests clicking on a link or attachment for any one of the following reasons: ( these are just a few common ones )

Change / update to personal information

Lottery Contests

Possible suspension of accounts -- Good examples include: Ebay or Paypal telling you your account will be suspended if you don't do this or that.

Application for products

After clicking on an attachment or link from the unsolicited email, the user is taken to a bogus site that requests confidential personal information, which could include:

Bank Card Numbers/User ID's

Account Numbers

Personal Identification Numbers (PINs)

Credit Card Numbers

Social Security Numbers

Other Personal or Private Information

Passwords

How To Identify the Scam

There are some commonalities that can help you identify the scams:

They are designed to mimic the look and feel of a genuine site

They are commonly sent out through unsolicited emails, containing links or attachments

The Web address will often have the @ symbol or a numeric address (eg.123.456.1.2). The address may also include the word, phrase or text e.g. 'Paypal Account ' to make it appear authentic.

For more detailed information about Scams and Fraud: Fight Identity Theft

Remember keeps your eyes WIDE OPEN!