Consumer Alert
11/12/2003
Attorney General Warns of New Scams
“Phishing” operation leads to identity theft; utility customers defrauded
TALLAHASSEE – Attorney General Charlie Crist today warned Florida consumers to protect themselves from fake e-mail scams designed to lure computer users into revealing personal information. In this scam, identity thieves send e-mail messages to consumers under the banner of a company with which the consumer already does business.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, recipients of the e-mail are then sent to a website that appears to be a legitimate site, where they are asked to divulge personal information such as Social Security numbers, bank and credit card account numbers and other financial information. This criminal activity is known as “phishing” or “carding”.
“Florida is aggressively targeting identity thieves with stronger enforcement and prosecution,” said Crist. “The most clever thieves are developing sophisticated scams to lure consumers into a false sense of security. ‘Phishing’ scams are well conceived and implemented and consumers need to be especially careful – especially during the upcoming holiday season, when purchasing reaches its highest levels.”
Crist and the FTC warn consumers who receive one of these emails to neither reply nor click on the bogus link it contains. They should immediately contact the company from which the email allegedly originated. Consumers may also find information on ways to protect themselves against identity theft by visiting the state’s Identity Theft Resource and Response Center on the internet at
http://myfloridalegal.com/identitytheft. Additional information is available at the Federal Trade Commission site at
www.ftc.gov.
Another scam involves customers of Progress Energy Corporation in the Orlando and St. Petersburg areas. Individuals impersonating company representatives telephone customers informing them of delinquent bills. The caller offers to pick up a check in order to rectify the delinquency. Company officials are warning consumers that these callers do not represent Progress Energy.
“Consumers should never feel pressured to make any immediate payments to anyone if they are not certain that money is owed,” said Crist. “A safe way to avoid this scam is to call Progress Energy – or any other company that might be an unwitting part of the fraud – and determine the status of your account.”
Suspicious activity may be reported to the Attorney General’s Fraud Hotline at 1-866-9-NO-SCAM (1-866-966-7226).