All About Credit Cards

I just got the most exciting email from the IRS - I was owed a tax refund! All I had to do was click on a link and enter some personal info. So, I did so and was given an official (looking) IRS web site, that would allow me to secure my refund. The only thing was that the URL was a series of numbers (or an IP address, for those technically sound) instead of “irs.gov”. Nice try, guys.

This tactic is called “phishing” and is defined as an email that appears to be legitimate and from a real company you may or may not have an account with. You’re then given a link that requires you to give them personal info and they wisk this data off to a database where they try and gleam as much financial information as they can from as many of your accounts as possible.

This is becoming more and more common, as there are alot of people who think emails like this are legitimate. Here are some ways to avoid losing your bank account info:

* Check the URLs - If eBay is asking you for a new user name, make sure you’re giving it to “ebay.com” and not some random site you haven’t heard of. And, clicking the link in the fraudulent email isn’t going to effect anything - it’s when you enter in your personal information.
* Give them a call - You might get an email from your bank, saying your account has been compromised. Can’t tell if this is a real problem? Call their 800 number and double-check with their customer reps.
* If you get one, let someone know - Most companies have an email you can forward over phishing attempts. I know that eBay and Paypal have spoof@ebay.com and spoof@paypal.com, as I’ve received multiple scams pretending to be these companies.

So, don’t freak out over a message saying $3,000 was stolen from your bank account. Unless you’ve received a letter in the mail, or something more formal, give them a call to make sure. Or else you may found that your vacation money has actually been taken by an 18-year old hacker halfway across the country.

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