Internet Phishing
Phishing (sometimes called carding or brand spoofing) uses e-mail messages that purport to come from legitimate businesses that one might have dealings with -- banks such as Citibank; online organizations such as eBay and PayPal; Internet service providers such as AOL, MSN, Yahoo and EarthLink; online retailers such as Best Buy; and insurance agencies. The messages may look quite authentic, featuring corporate logos and formats similar to the ones used for legitimate messages. Typically, they ask for verification of certain information, such as account numbers and passwords, allegedly for auditing purposes. And because these e-mails look so official, up to 20% of unsuspecting recipients may respond to them, resulting in financial losses, identity theft and other fraudulent activity against them.
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Tips on how to avoid the Internet scam known as phishing.
* If you receive an unexpected e-mail saying your account will be shut down unless you confirm your billing information, do not reply or click any links in the e-mail body.
* Before submitting financial information through a Web site, look for the "lock" icon on the browser's status bar. It means your information is secure during transmission.
* If you are uncertain about the information, contact the company through an address or telephone number you know to be genuine.
* If you unknowingly supplied personal or financial information, contact your bank and credit card company immediately.
* Suspicious e-mail can be forwarded to uce@ftc.gov, and complaints should be filed with the state attorney general's office or through the FTC at www.ftc.gov.
—Kevin Pang, "'Phishers' widen their catch of Web identity victims," Chicago Tribune, July 29, 2003
INFORMATIONAL WEB SITES
Federal Trade Commission
http://www.ftc.gov/
Calif. Dept. of Consumer Affairs
www.dca.ca.gov
Privacy Rights Clearing House
www.privacyrights.org
U.S. Government Accounting Office
www.gao.gov
U.S. Postal Inspection Service
www.usps.gov/postalinspectors
International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators
www.iafci.org (go to links section)
Internet and On-Line Services
• Use caution when disclosing checking account numbers, credit card numbers or other
personal financial data at any Web site or on-line service location unless you receive a
secured authentication key from your provider.
• When you subscribe to an on-line service, you may be asked to give credit card information.
When you enter any interactive service site, beware of con artists who may ask you
to "confirm" your enrollment service by disclosing passwords or the credit card account number
used to subscribe. Don't give them out!
Your GPD Case Number is ____________________________.
Make note of this case number in your detailed history folder and reference it when you have contact with any business or law enforcement agency concerning this report. Depending upon the location (jurisdiction) of where the crime occurred (goods or services obtained to delivered) an investigator may or may not be assigned to this case.
If the crime occurred in our jurisdiction and there are workable leads such as witnesses and suspect information, an investigator will be assigned to the case. Unfortunately, not all cases will be assigned to an investigator because there are no significant leads to identify the suspect.
INFORMATIONAL WEB SITES
Federal Trade Commission
www.ftc.gov
Calif. Dept. of Consumer Affairs
www.dca.ca.gov
Privacy Rights Clearing House
www.privacyrights.org
U.S. Government Accounting Office
www.gao.gov
U.S. Postal Inspection Service
www.usps.gov/postalinspectors
International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators
www.iafci.org (go to links section)
To file a Report of Identity Theft with the Gustine Police Department
Please use this link provided and Download the Gustine Police Department Identity Theft Packet
Id Theft Information RequestDownload
Gustine Police Department
682 Third Avenue.
Gustine CA, 95322
(209) 854-3737 or (209)854-1010
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Key Terms To Understanding phishing:
phishing
The act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft.
spear phishing
A type of phishing attack that focuses on a single user or department within an organization.
spyware
Any software that covertly gathers user information through the user's Internet connection without his or her knowledge
security
In the computer industry, refers to techniques for ensuring that data stored in a computer cannot be read or compromised by any individuals without authorization.
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