CARL WATTS & ASSOCIATES
May 31, 2010
We are all exposed to scams or phishing, and identity thieves can get to our personal information by many means, some as common as stealing a wallet, other more modern, like accessing information provided to unsecured internet sites, looking through our trash or using impersonating schemes through a phone call or email.
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Washington DC
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tel/fax 202 350-9002 |
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Make sure you always shred and don’t just throw away documents that contain any personal information, bank accounts numbers, pin numbers, passwords, social security number, date of birth and so on.
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Always report stolen or lost wallets, I.D., credit cards etc. as soon as possible. |
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Check you credit card and bank transactions carefully for any inaccuracies
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Don’t leave documents or mail containing personal information lying around in plain view.. |
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When you throw away your old computer make sure any data has been safely removed. |
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If you receive unsolicited or suspicious emails:
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Check the date of the email and the spelling (scammers sometimes use English as a second language and the grammar and spelling are rather poor).
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Most email scams contain a link to a website. Do not click on the link, instead if you really want to check, copy and paste the link in your address bar (links may look legitimate but in fact send you to totally bogus websites). |
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Do not open attachments or download files from suspicious emails; those may contain key logging software that will capture everything you type, including email addresses, personal information, passwords etc. |
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Never email personal or financial information to any one unless you are pretty sure you solicited the email yourself; remember that IRS and other official institutions do not initiate contact by email; banking institutions do not ask existing customers to re-enter personal information. Some emails may have graphics or logos that look legitimate, nevertheless always go to the official website to log on to your personal account. |
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Most scams or chain mails have usually been around the block, so one other thing you can do is copy a line of the text and paste it into your favorite search engine -- chances are you’ll find that text in an article about scams. |
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Just delete or report emails about accounts that you don’t have, money transfer plots,, threats of account suspension or closing, fake refunds, lottery wins, inheritances and other such news that just sound “too good to be true”.
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Suspicious emails should be reported to the US Federal Trade Commission at spam@uce.gov .
Above all, dear friends, use your better judgment and stay safe!
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