The reel is flung. The line is dropped. It lands in a vast sea of potential victims.
Sure enough, one of them bites. It's known as "phishing," and it's fertile territory for identity theft.
Phishing has become quite an industry. Big companies, such as Best Buy, America Online, PayPal, eBay and, most recently CitiBank, have had their corporate logos and even fonts misappropriated in this series of e-mail scams.
The e-mails – very official-looking – often threaten closure of a customer's account unless certain personal information, such as credit card and Social Security numbers, is provided to a Web site that sounds official, but is not.
One East County woman – who asked that her name not be used – fell hook, line and sinker for it last week. "My wife bit for the eBay scam about canceling her account unless she provides a bunch of personal data," e-mailed the woman's husband. "She gave it all!"
In a phone interview, the man said his wife is "an eBay addict."
He said he and his wife previously talked about not giving out such personal information via e-mail.
"We're not dumb people, but we got caught up in this," he said.
No, they're not dumb. There's an irritating amount of vigilance we all need to have about e-mail and the Internet. It shouldn't have to be this way. But it is.
The e-mail they received said "eBay Verification Request" in the subject line. The sender was "aw-confirm@ebay.com";
The message said, in part, "Dear eBay User, During our regular update and verification of the accounts, we could not verify your current information . . . As a result, your access to bid or buy on eBay has been restricted . . . According to our site policy you will have to confirm that you are the real owner of the eBay by log in and complete the form that will pop up or else your account will be suspended . . . "
The sender's e-mail address almost had a ring of authenticity. The Web link given to the e-mail recipient went to a site that had an eBay look and feel to it. But it was a fake.
Jay Foley, of the San Diego-based Identity Theft Resource Center, said he has received hundreds of calls from people who have gotten similar e-mails supposedly from eBay.
The phishing e-mails are "asking for a Social Security number, credit card number, checking account number, driver's license number – infinitely more information than eBay ever wants or needs in the first place," Foley said.
Indeed, eBay recently posted a warning of this problem in its general announcements area of its site.
Among its points:
"Be sure you are on an eBay page. It is generally not a good idea to click on links in an e-mail. However, if you do, be sure that you are signing into a genuine eBay Web site by looking at the address/location of your browser.
"At an eBay.com sign-in or log-in page, the URL (link) that appears in the address/location area of your (Web) browser will begin with 'http://cgi.ebay.com/' 'https://scgi.ebay.com/' or 'http://signin.ebay.com.'
"Please play close attention to all characters in the address, including the forward slash (/) that follows ebay.com.
"Even if the address/location includes the word 'eBay,' it may not be a genuine eBay Web site."
The Federal Trade Commission, too, says in general, consumers should not reply to or click on links provided in e-mails when it comes to divulging personal information.
Instead, contact the company that is supposedly trying to reach you by calling a telephone number for the company that you've used in the past or have on any statements.
Said Foley: "A few extra minutes on your part can save you an awful lot of money and time." And headaches.
If you receive a phishing e-mail, don't respond to it. Instead:
l Forward the e-mail electronically to the Identity Theft Resource Center at: itrc-scams@sbcglobal.net The center's Web site is http://www.idtheftcenter.org
l Go to the FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center Web site (http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp) and follow directions for filing a complaint.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/mon/business/news_mz1b25id.html
Sure enough, one of them bites. It's known as "phishing," and it's fertile territory for identity theft.
Phishing has become quite an industry. Big companies, such as Best Buy, America Online, PayPal, eBay and, most recently CitiBank, have had their corporate logos and even fonts misappropriated in this series of e-mail scams.
The e-mails – very official-looking – often threaten closure of a customer's account unless certain personal information, such as credit card and Social Security numbers, is provided to a Web site that sounds official, but is not.
One East County woman – who asked that her name not be used – fell hook, line and sinker for it last week. "My wife bit for the eBay scam about canceling her account unless she provides a bunch of personal data," e-mailed the woman's husband. "She gave it all!"
In a phone interview, the man said his wife is "an eBay addict."
He said he and his wife previously talked about not giving out such personal information via e-mail.
"We're not dumb people, but we got caught up in this," he said.
No, they're not dumb. There's an irritating amount of vigilance we all need to have about e-mail and the Internet. It shouldn't have to be this way. But it is.
The e-mail they received said "eBay Verification Request" in the subject line. The sender was "aw-confirm@ebay.com";
The message said, in part, "Dear eBay User, During our regular update and verification of the accounts, we could not verify your current information . . . As a result, your access to bid or buy on eBay has been restricted . . . According to our site policy you will have to confirm that you are the real owner of the eBay by log in and complete the form that will pop up or else your account will be suspended . . . "
The sender's e-mail address almost had a ring of authenticity. The Web link given to the e-mail recipient went to a site that had an eBay look and feel to it. But it was a fake.
Jay Foley, of the San Diego-based Identity Theft Resource Center, said he has received hundreds of calls from people who have gotten similar e-mails supposedly from eBay.
The phishing e-mails are "asking for a Social Security number, credit card number, checking account number, driver's license number – infinitely more information than eBay ever wants or needs in the first place," Foley said.
Indeed, eBay recently posted a warning of this problem in its general announcements area of its site.
Among its points:
"Be sure you are on an eBay page. It is generally not a good idea to click on links in an e-mail. However, if you do, be sure that you are signing into a genuine eBay Web site by looking at the address/location of your browser.
"At an eBay.com sign-in or log-in page, the URL (link) that appears in the address/location area of your (Web) browser will begin with 'http://cgi.ebay.com/' 'https://scgi.ebay.com/' or 'http://signin.ebay.com.'
"Please play close attention to all characters in the address, including the forward slash (/) that follows ebay.com.
"Even if the address/location includes the word 'eBay,' it may not be a genuine eBay Web site."
The Federal Trade Commission, too, says in general, consumers should not reply to or click on links provided in e-mails when it comes to divulging personal information.
Instead, contact the company that is supposedly trying to reach you by calling a telephone number for the company that you've used in the past or have on any statements.
Said Foley: "A few extra minutes on your part can save you an awful lot of money and time." And headaches.
If you receive a phishing e-mail, don't respond to it. Instead:
l Forward the e-mail electronically to the Identity Theft Resource Center at: itrc-scams@sbcglobal.net The center's Web site is http://www.idtheftcenter.org
l Go to the FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center Web site (http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp) and follow directions for filing a complaint.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/mon/business/news_mz1b25id.html
