PHONE PHISHING

I recently came across this article about Phone Phishing. EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ IT! People, Identity theft is the number one crime in America. The scammers are coming up with better ways to steal every second. We need to know how to protect ourselves & others. The article is below:

"Dear CNET members,
Happy Friday, folks! By now I hope that most of you are all aware of phishing scams (if not, here is a quick run down from Wikipedia.org). And this week's topic is all about vishing (or voice phishing), which is a scam very similar to phishing tactics, but performed mostly through the telephone or cell phone rather than through Web sites or e-mails. This process of vishing is an electronic fraud tactic where unsuspecting people are called or left a message in one form or another, using an automated process (voice recording) stating that your financial account has been possibly compromised and your verification is needed to ensure it hasn't been compromised. What usually follows the message is a prompt requesting you to enter personal information (credit card information, PIN, Social Security number, etc.). Or if it is left as a message on your answering machine, it leaves a number for you to call back and once you call back, it will prompt you to enter your information. Either way, if you do enter that information (and I hope no one does), before you know it, someone out there has your personal information and is probably laughing all the way to the bank. These scam tactics come in all shapes and sizes; the bottom line is that they're out to get your personal information--if you allow them to! And once you read through the answers that Judie received from our members, you'll get a good sense of what's out there.

I know for a lot of you this whole vishing or even phishing thing sounds trivial, and simple common sense tells us to hang up or ignore it. But unsuspecting people will fall victim to these scams, and unless we as a community raise awareness to our families, friends, and co-workers, scammers will continue to prey on those uninformed folks. So as a community, I urge you all to do a good deed and spread the word about these malicious scams to hopefully stop this crime.

For this week, there will be no voting on the most helpful answer as there are just so many informative answers to go around. We have members providing links to report these tactics, information on how to prevent being a victim or recover from being a victim, all the way to how to stop receiving unsolicited telemarketing calls. There are even folks who were victims of vishing or phishing who have stopped by to share their experience. We are all very grateful and fortunate to have folks like you who care enough to help one another out. So hats off to you, for being kind enough to share. Please read all the answers and get informed. And if you have more advice to add, or experiences to share, do join us in this week's discussion. Take care, and be safe!

Cheers!"
Lee Koo
Manager, CNET community

• 

The Most Recent Scam - Calls/Emails From The Alleged 'IRS'

The most recent scam? Scammers are making phone calls or sending emails to people, stating they are calling from the
IRS about a refund check.To read the full story, CLICK HERE to go to the IRS article.
The goal of the scams is to trick people into revealing personal and financial information, such as Social Security, bank account or credit card numbers, which the scumbags can use to commit identity theft. I highly recommend Lifelock, for $10 a month they moniter your credit & back up your identity with a million bucks. A small price to pay for peace of mind.

The best piece of advice I can give in this situation is NEVER, EVER EVER, under any circumstances, give ANYONE financial or personal information if they contact you. You should be the one making the phone call/email (i.e. to your bank) if any type of personal info is going to be discussed.

Be careful my fellow friends, and protect your hard earned cash.