May 9, 2007

NEWS: “BoA” Phishing Scam Warning

Scammers are always looking for new ways to divest you of your money. That, in and of itself, is nothing novel. But every now and then, someone in the cesspool of fraud crimes – that would be the internet, by the way – comes up with something truly ingenious. A really good trick, so to say. It’s one of those doozies that experts are warning of recently, a scam so recent and unprecedented that relatively few have even heard of it.

It’s a phishing scam, which involves a fake e-mail that is tricked out to look like it came from your financial institution, or another common business. Like all phishing scams worth the name, it alerts you that there is some problem with your account, and lets you know that you absolutely must respond straight away, lest something tragic or disastrous happen. You’re redirected to a page or e-mail form to allow you to enter your personal information, to confirm your identity and supposedly resolve the issue. But, of course, you have just been taken, and your information is being transmitted to identity thieves, likely at a computer in a foreign country, rubbing their greedy little hands together, and knowing that there’s truly a sucker born every minute.

The newest permutation is said to look like it came from Bank of America’s customer service department, warning of a phone forwarding glitch. The way to solve it, of course, is to turn over all your personal information ASAP. Don’t do it! This, like any other situation fitting the above criteria, is a scam. Banks will never solicit your personal information online, or by phone. It’s just a fact.


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