[StBernard] NEW PHISHING EMAIL SCAM TARGETS CELL PHONE COMPANY CUSTOMERS

[Westley Annis]

NEW PHISHING EMAIL SCAM TARGETS CELL PHONE COMPANY CUSTOMERS

Various Cell Phone customers including Verizon customers are being targeted
by a
"phishing scam" that attempts to get their personal information.

The bogus email looks very authenticate but in fact is a complete
fabrication. Most of the formatting and graphics are almost perfectly
identical to a real Verizon email. The fake email shows an outrageously high
bill amount designed to get you to panic and click on the bogus links
impulsively. Clicking on the links will get you to a dangerous website
designed to load your system with malware or viruses. If you get such an
email, delete it immediately. Cell Phone carriers will never ask customers
to provide or verify personal or account information by email.

If you have already entered your personal account information in response to
the phishing email, you must take
immediate action, including contacting your bank. Depending on what
information you gave out, you may
want to protect yourself against identity theft by closing your accounts,
placing a fraud alert on your credit, and
filing a report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/consumers/filing-a-report.html
.

While the current phishing scam seems to be targeted toward Verizon
customers, other cell phone carriers are
also being targeted. Simple steps can be taken to protect your personal
information:
. Never reply to or forward suspicious email messages.
. Never open any attachments or links from these suspicious emails. They
might contain malicious code.
. Always delete the suspicious email message from your computer.