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.