Beware of a new Internet phishing scam
Internet scammers have come up with a new way to snag your personal information and steal your money.
The scam is so new that only a few fraud-fighters have heard about it. But it's out there, and you need to know about it.
It's a new twist on the old 'phisher' scam, and it's really clever. I've warned you about phisher scams for years now.
They all start with a bogus e-mail that's made to look like it's from your bank, broker or some trusted business. The e-mail tells you there's some problem with your account and you need to respond right away by supplying your personal information. And if you don't, the e-mail says, something drastic will happen, like your account being suspended.
The new mutation of the phisher scam just hit the web last week. The e-mail appears to be from Bank of America. It says:
"During our regular update and verification we could not verify your current phone number. You're told to confirm your phone number right away, or your account will be suspended indefinitely."
Not only are you supposed to give them you phone number, you're instructed to forward your calls to the Bank of America Security Department, and they give you that number.
"Bank of America will verify your phone number,and will disable call forward within 20 minutes."
Once you've done all this, you're told to submit all your personal information, including credit card number. Don't do it. Don't do any of it.
This e-mail is not from Bank of America, and that number does not go to their security department. It goes to the identity thieves.
This is the first wave of this new phishing scam. It if works - if a lot of people fall for it - we're sure to see more bogus e-mail pretending to be from other financial institutions, asking you to do the same thing.
Why would identity thieves want you to forward your phone number to them? I can think of two reasons why.
First, when the snag your personal information and start charging things all over the world, the bank's computer may issue a potential fraud alert. If the bank calls you to find out what's going on and your number is forwarded to the bad guys, they can pretend to be you and say everything is OK.
Also, with your phone number and credit card number, they can wire money to themselves. When the money transfer company calls to verify the transaction before sending the money - and many do - they'll call your number which, once again, goes to the crooks.
The scam is so new that only a few fraud-fighters have heard about it. But it's out there, and you need to know about it.
It's a new twist on the old 'phisher' scam, and it's really clever. I've warned you about phisher scams for years now.
They all start with a bogus e-mail that's made to look like it's from your bank, broker or some trusted business. The e-mail tells you there's some problem with your account and you need to respond right away by supplying your personal information. And if you don't, the e-mail says, something drastic will happen, like your account being suspended.
The new mutation of the phisher scam just hit the web last week. The e-mail appears to be from Bank of America. It says:
"During our regular update and verification we could not verify your current phone number. You're told to confirm your phone number right away, or your account will be suspended indefinitely."
Not only are you supposed to give them you phone number, you're instructed to forward your calls to the Bank of America Security Department, and they give you that number.
"Bank of America will verify your phone number,and will disable call forward within 20 minutes."
Once you've done all this, you're told to submit all your personal information, including credit card number. Don't do it. Don't do any of it.
This e-mail is not from Bank of America, and that number does not go to their security department. It goes to the identity thieves.
This is the first wave of this new phishing scam. It if works - if a lot of people fall for it - we're sure to see more bogus e-mail pretending to be from other financial institutions, asking you to do the same thing.
Why would identity thieves want you to forward your phone number to them? I can think of two reasons why.
First, when the snag your personal information and start charging things all over the world, the bank's computer may issue a potential fraud alert. If the bank calls you to find out what's going on and your number is forwarded to the bad guys, they can pretend to be you and say everything is OK.
Also, with your phone number and credit card number, they can wire money to themselves. When the money transfer company calls to verify the transaction before sending the money - and many do - they'll call your number which, once again, goes to the crooks.