Spoof Email
Mischievous people continue to use e-mail to gather
information from people for the purpose of identity theft and other
financial crimes. These spoof or "phishing" emails appear to be from
trusted websites and usually attempt to have you "update your account
information" which would then likely prompt you to submit your social
security number or credit card information - information that a legitimate
company already has! Why would a legitimate company need your personal
information again? The money transfer service
PayPal is a trustworthy website that is often used by scammers who send
spoof emails claiming need updated information. To help spot phony, spoof
email PayPal has published information including 10 ways to spot fake
(spoof) emails at this
link. The bottom line is if an email looks
suspicious, call the company at their published telephone number (usually
on a statement or back of your credit card) and check to see if they
really attempted to contact you via an email for a legitimate reason. |
