It's a usual morning. You're sorting through the e-mail in your inbox and come across one claiming to be from your bank. They're upgrading their security systems and you need to confirm your details to maintain access to your account. You're asked to click on a link which takes you to what appears to be an official website and asked to enter your details.
Beware! All is not what it seems! This could be what is often referred to as a "spoof" e-mail. The website you have been directed to is, in fact, a cleverly fashioned imitation and nothing to do with your bank at all. This is a classic example of a "phishing" scam. Once you have entered all your account details, the people behind the site now have all the information they need to impersonate you to take out loans, mortgages etc. in your name and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. Indeed, maybe the first time you find out about what's been going on is when you apply for a loan some months later and are turned down because your credit rating has been destroyed.
Unfortunately, this is becoming an all too common scenario. There are scammers out there who set up fraudulent operations like this and who bank on people believing that their e-mails are official communications from genuine banks. Their main weapon is the scare tactic. Make the target believe that if they don't part with their details, then they will no longer have access to their account or it will be suspended. It can be fairly easy to spot a spoof e-mail. One of the dead giveaways that the e-mail is from a scammer is that it will usually be addressed to "Dear YourBank customer". This is simply because the scammer has found your e-mail from some source, perhaps your company website where your e-mail address is shown, and added it to his list of hopeful targets. If your bank really did want to contact you, they would address any communication to you personally.
The best thing you can do with any official-looking e-mails that you think may not be genuine is to simply ignore them. Don't click on any link at all. It is possible that just by clicking on that link, you are confirming to the scammer that your e-mail address is valid and they may try to target you even more. Of course, it almost goes without saying that you should never, under any circumstances, divulge your personal details in this way. If you are in doubt whether an e-mail is genuine or not, the best thing to do is make a quick telephone call to your bank. For the time it takes and the price of a quick local call, you may save yourself a lot of hassle. Unfortunately, there is very little anyone can do to stop this flow of spoof e-mails. If you do receive any, a good course of action is to report them to your bank, your internet service provider (ISP) and, maybe even your local police department. After all, this is fraud. Above all, be vigilant. There are plenty of unscrupulous people out there only too ready to steal your identity. Don't help them and don't become yet another statistic.
Find out more about identity theft at http://www.id-safe.co.uk
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