Here's what phishing and vishing scams are about…
Phishing is a type of online scam that targets individuals by sending them an email that appears to be from a well-known source, such as an internet service provider, a bank, or a mortgage company. The email asks the individual to provide personal identifying information. The scammer then uses the sensitive information to open new accounts or invade their victim’s existing accounts.
Vishing (voice phishing) is another type of scam, but it targets individuals over the phone and seems to appear from a well-known source, such as a bank, credit card company, or mortgage company. The scammers attempt to collect personal identifying information then use it to open new accounts or illegally withdraw from their victim’s existing accounts.
Stay Protected:
- Always protect your personal information.
- Do not respond to emails or pop-up messages that ask for personal or financial information.
- Never download files or email attachments from unreliable sources.
- Do not give personal or financial information to callers, even if they identify themselves as being from a company you do business with or have partial information about your account.
- Never provide personal information in response to an unsolicited phone call, fax, email or text message.
- Never log in to financial accounts from a public computer.
- Periodically check your account activity, especially if you bank online. Compare the current balance and transactions on your statement to those you’ve recorded.
- Secure your computer. Enable your computer’s firewall and use current anti-virus and anti-spyware software.
- Run virus scans on your computer regularly and clean up any viruses, trojans, adware or other malware that are detected.
- Set strong passwords and change regularly. A strong password is at least eight characters in length and includes a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters. Consider using a phrase that you can inject numbers and symbols in between characters.
