E-mail "phishing" scams

E-mails seeking donations for the tsunami relief effort are one of the latest e-mail phishing scams attempting to exploit concerns for the tsunami victims. An e-mail supposedly linking to a charitable relief fund may not be what it appears. Using the tragedy to inspire people to make monetary donations, a compassionate person’s identity may be stolen as a result of providing personal information requested to make a donation.

Phishing e-mails are designed to trick the recipients into disclosing personal information such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, usernames, passwords, and home addresses. Most of these e-mails look official or legitimate. As a result, recipients often respond to them, resulting in financial losses, identity theft, and other fraudulent activity.

Recent news reports warn that phishing e-mails may be circulating asking recipients to donate money to what appears, on the surface, to be a charitable relief fund. In order to donate money, people are asked to enter their personal information. E-mails sent to you requesting a donation should be checked out thoroughly with the sponsoring organization before responding. Do not respond to an e-mail or to a link in the e-mail. Instead, it is recommended that donations be made using the official Web site of known disaster assistance organizations to make an online donation. http://www.usafreedomcorps.gov

Anyone who has been victimized by these types of scams are urged to call the Attorney General’s Fraud Hotline at 1-866-966-7226.

Related Link - Tsunami Relief Scams