Email Identity Theft Scams
One of the most common ways in which many people find that there identity and financial information has been compromised is via email scams. There are many ways in which emails are used by hackers and criminals to obtain personal and financial information, here are some tips.
Identity theft can occur in many different ways and while most people are aware of credit card theft, they might not be aware that emails are another popular form of email fraud and theft.
Emails are used to solicit information from non suspecting customers or individuals. For instance, you may receive an email that looks very official from a government agency. It may request that you click on a link inserted into the email and once you click on a link, you are sent to a web site that looks legitimate. Once at this unsuspecting web site, it will usually ask you to fill in important information such as your social security number, full name, address and birth date. Unfortunately many times, this is not a legitimate website, it is a fraudulent web site set up by criminals to easily steal your personal and financial information. This type of theft when using email is called phishing.
Other types of email identity theft scams are emails that are sent to you stating that you won a free prize. It can be a TV set, free vacation or even a free car. It then asks you to click a link to claim your prize, however before you can claim your prize, you must first input your full name, address, social security number, birth date and mothers maiden name, all types of information that can then be used to steal your identity and commit a crime or fraud.
You should definitely be aware of the numerous scams that use email to lure their victims; you should always make sure that you never send any web site your personal or financial information through an email. You should first close the email and contact the site directly. If it is a company that you do business with regularly, contact them directly by phone to make sure they are requesting information from you directly.
If you have received an email from a site that claims you have won a prize, try to contact them by phone or check with the better business bureau to see if there are any complaints before you hand over any information. And as a special note think before you give out any personal or financial information. Make sure the people you give your information to have a valid reason to collect it from you in the first place.
