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Consumers should be highly suspicious when receiving messages - via telephone, e-mail or otherwise - directing them to call and provide personal, confidential, and/or account related information.
Phone scam artists call potential victims and try to trick them into sharing their personal or account information by posing as a reputable company that you recognize.
E-mail scam artists do the same by sending potential victims an e-mail that looks like it is from a reputable company. But remember, just because an e-mail may have a company's logo, does not make it a legit e-mail.
Your financial institutions, credit card companies, mortgage companies...will not contact you to verify personal information. They already have the necessary information. Any attempt to obtain personal information via an unsolicited phone call, text message or e-mail should be immediately viewed as a scam attempt. Do not give them what they want. You will not be penalized or get in trouble for not abiding by their request.
By observing a few basic precautions, you can help protect yourself scams:
- Never provide your personal or account information or password in response to an unsolicited request, e-mail or caller. If you did not initiate the communication, by phone or e-mail, you should not provide any information.
- Contact the company yourself.Ask the caller for their name, department and phone extension and then contact the company at a number or e-mail you know to be correct to determine if the call is legitimate. Do not use the phone number the caller gives you or reply to an e-mail.
- Review account statements regularly to ensure all charges are correct. If your account statement is late in arriving, call to find out why. If you have Internet account access, periodically review activity online to catch suspicious activity.
If you believe you have given personal information to an illegitimate source or have a question concerning your account, you should contact your financial institution or lender using a telephone number obtained independently, such as from your statement, a telephone book, or other independent means. Also, you may want to contact the credit reporting agencies immediately and monitor your credit files and account statements closely.
Due to rapidly evolving criminal methodologies, it is impossible to include every scenario. Therefore, be cognizant and protect your personal information. Beware of e-mails, telephone calls or text messages requesting your personal information.
Other Scams to be aware of:
IRS Warns of Rebate Scams
Vishing Attacks Increase
Bogus Cell Phone Text Messages
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